Still Breathing
by MissJessWalker
Summary: COMPLETE. All Felicity wants is to make it through her terrible break-up. All Jacob wants is Bella Swan. So when Jacob imprints on Felicity, things kind of run off the rails. But love is love, right? No matter how long it takes to work itself out? (Jacob/OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, friends! Thank you so much for checking out my story! A few things before we dive in:**

 **\- In this story, Jacob is 18.**

 **\- The timeline doesn't exactly follow with any of the books, but I guess it falls into New Moon right now. I cracked Bella out of her shell of depression a little earlier in the year, though.**

 **\- As of right now, I plan to post Chapter Two next week. Somewhere between Wednesday and Friday. I MIGHT be swayed to post it a little sooner if this gets a good response (I'M REALLY NERVOUS BUT ALSO EXCITED)  
**

 **\- The plan is to post one chapter a week. Fingers crossed I can stick to it.**

 **\- I'm going to do this disclaimer once and only ONCE because it's annoying: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own Twilight, though I totally wish I did.**

 **...And that's it! Here's the first chapter of Still Breathing! I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 _Felicity's POV_

Elijah and I stared at the table, avoiding one another's eyes. He didn't want to see the pain in mine and I didn't want to see the guilt in his—it wouldn't help anything. Wouldn't change our situation. He felt bad, but this was all his fault. I wasn't going to take in his guilt and then comfort him. He didn't deserve it. And he probably didn't want it. Not from me, anyway.

He was divorcing me.

We'd been married less than a year, and he was already calling it quits. Because "staying together will only hurt me in the long run." As if I'm not torn apart _right now_.

"I'm so sorry, City," he said quietly. What sucked was that he actually did sound sorry. It didn't help anything, but it was better than my dear Eli suddenly turning into a person that cared nothing for me at all. He clearly cared. Apparently it just was not enough.

My eyes remaining lowered, I asked, "Why?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

Pressing my lips together, I lifted my angry gaze to his face. I didn't meet his eyes, but I studied his features. They were drawn. He was paler than usual. "Too late, Elijah." He flinched at my use of his full name. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd called him that. "Please don't make me wonder. Just tell me what's going on. There's obviously someone else." He flinched again. My assumption was correct. "It'd be better if you told me about it now instead of leaving me to find out through someone else or—" my voice broke, and I cleared my throat before continuing. "Or bumping into you around and finding out that way. I don't want to be caught off guard like that."

"I don't want you to be caught off guard by anything either." He sighed, running his hands roughly through his hair. "This is...this isn't what I picture for us, City. We were going to make it. I knew we were. We're young, but damn it, I fucking love you."

Now I locked my gaze with his. I tried not to register the mixture of emotions churning within his, focusing instead on showing him how I felt. I couldn't explicitly vocalize all of it at the moment. He deserved to know regardless. "Not enough."

His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No. No, no, no. That's not it at all. I still love you—so much. It's not that it's not enough. It's just...different."

My eyes rolled. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't put much weight in that at the moment." He frowned but didn't argue so I prompted, "Tell me."

A breath slowly released from his lips as he nodded. "Okay. Fine. So." He paused. "This isn't going to make much sense. I can't think of any way to explain it to you that isn't extremely fucked up, so bear with me." Another hesitation. "I went down to the bakery on the rez—you know, the one Ms. Call owns?" I just stared at him. He knew damn well that I was aware of the bakery he was talking about. We'd ordered our wedding cake from there. "Right. So I was there and I was going to pick up dessert for us, because I know how upset you've been lately over what's going on with your parents, and I...I kind of ran into someone."

He paused _again_ , and my patience wore even thinner. "Like, literally?"

"No." Elijah forced a cough. "No, like...I saw her."

Her. There it was, confirmed another time. There was someone else. The pain I'd been feeling before doubled its efforts, digging into my chest.

Elijah apparently saw this on my face because he began speaking faster now, as if that'd make this easier. "I saw her and...shit, City. I can't explain it. I love you. I love you so much, and I never imagined there could be anything more. I know you understand that because we shared that." We had—or I'd thought we did. "But the world...it changed when I saw her. And I tried to act normal, like nothing happened, but my mind isn't shifting back to the way it was before."

"So you cheated on me." It wasn't really a question at this point.

" _No_ ," he gasped. "Never. I would never do that to you. But that is why I'm breaking up with you. Because I can't stay away from her. I tried. I swear I did. We've talked, though, and I can't deny it anymore. There's no getting away from this. So we have to end our marriage, honey. I'm so sorry."

As hard as I tried to remain composed, I couldn't keep from trembling. "How long ago?"

It wasn't a full question, but he understood what I was asking. "About a week ago."

A week. One week. Seven days. That was it, and he was already throwing me away to give himself to her. We'd been together since middle school—five years now, almost six. We'd gotten married not long after I turned eighteen. He'd asked me, wooing me with sweet words and precious promises. I'd thought I could trust him. In all the time I'd known him, he'd never given me a reason for doubt.

So now I was down to two ways to interpret this—either he was an asshole all along, set on making my life a living hell...or there was something crazy going on with whoever this girl was and he was trying to do his best to let me down easy.

I almost snorted. Easy. Right. Because asking me to sit down for a serious talk and then opening the conversation with "I adore you, City, you know that, but...we need to get a divorce" really made this less difficult.

But I loved Elijah. That hadn't changed just because he found someone new. And I wanted him to be happy. So I said, "Alright."

His eyes snapped open even wider. "What?"

I shrugged. "Alright. If you need out of this marriage—if you need this other woman to be happy—then alright. I don't know anything about divorce, though. I never imagined…" I'd truly thought we'd defy the odds and make it. Yes, we were young. He was only a year older than I was. But I loved him with everything in me, and I never believed we'd get to the point where we would need to split.

Then again, _we_ hadn't. He had.

He shook his head quickly. "No, I'll look into it. You can keep—"

"I don't want to talk about that yet," I cut him off. "And I can't keep this place. I'd never be able to afford the mortgage on my own. You know that." I still had to graduate from high school. He'd been done late last spring and jumped right into a job with his father running the modest mall in Port Angeles. They had an office in Forks where most of the work could be done but even so, PA wasn't so far that they couldn't swing by if needed. So he'd landed right into a steady, well-paying job while doing some business classes online at the community college. He'd laid it all out for me when I turned eighteen the September following his graduation. He'd explained how we would work out. How I could finish school and we could get married and he'd take care of me and we'd be together…

I'd believed him. I'd seen the stars in his eyes, how completely he adored me. And I'd returned those feelings tenfold.

So I said yes. We were married by Halloween. And now, apparently, we were going to be broken up by Valentine's Day.

"We'll figure something out," he said, dragging his hands through his hair. "I promised to take care of you. I'm not just going to leave you on the streets, City."

My eyes narrowed. "I do have somewhere to go, you know."

"You're not going back with your parents," he replied immediately, his eyes narrowing back at me. "No way am I letting you return to that shit hole."

My anger flared. How dare he? "You really think you have a say in what happens in my life now? You're divorcing _me_ , Eli. You're the one that doesn't care." Suddenly hit with the weight of the situation, I leaned back in my chair, out of breath. I closed my eyes against the tears threatening to fall. Once I started, they weren't going to stop for a while and I would not give Elijah the chance to see how terribly he'd hurt me. He probably had an idea, but I wasn't going to make the evidence so forthcoming.

"City…" he whispered, his voice raw. As if he was in pain, too. Jerk. "I care. I do. And I always will. I'm not dumping you to figure everything out alone. We'll figure something out so you're taken care of, okay? You'll be alright."

He was trying to soothe me, but there wasn't much he could do to make me feel less like crap right then. So I shook my head. "Just leave, Eli. _Please_." My voice cracked and the first of what was surely going to be a slew of sobs escaped.

"City…"

" _Go!_ " I screeched, glaring up at him with a watery gaze. My vision of him was blurry, but I could make out his torn expression. To help him make the decision a little easier, I pointed furiously at the door. He had somewhere else to be—he could go to _her_. I only had here. So he had to be the one to go.

Though Elijah was breaking my heart, he wasn't an idiot. He knew how few choices I had at the moment. So he nodded. Right before he slipped out the door, he whispered brokenly, "I'm so sorry, Felicity. So sorry."

He'd been saying those words throughout the entire conversation but that time, they finally broke me. I curled up in a ball, arms around my legs and forehead to my knees, sobbing. It felt like everything was falling apart—my relationship, my life, and... _me_. I could do nothing but stay where I was, crying my heart out until I finally found a weak sort of solace in sleep.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

Leah had found a new way to torture us all—she'd imprinted. On a married man. If he could even be considered a man at the age of nineteen. Who got married at nineteen anyway? From what Leah ranted about nonstop, his wife was only eighteen and still in high school. Wouldn't it have been smarter to wait until they'd both been graduated, at the very least? It was weird. And annoying. If only they'd waited, then Leah wouldn't have nearly as much to whine about in the pack mind.

And whine she did. Constantly. It didn't even make sense because apparently the dude was divorcing the girl he married. Leah should have been happy. He cared about Leah enough to do that. But no, Leah instead focused on the fact that there was another girl her imprint cared about at all. Well, Leah never really referred to her as a girl. She was usually _that bitch_ or some variation of that. They were all kind of amusing because Leah hadn't met the girl. Hadn't even seen her from a distance. And yet she had all kinds of insults to spew.

Her imprint had gone into Embry's mom's bakery a little over a week ago and bumped into Leah on his way out. They'd met eyes and—wham, bam, _imprint_. Leah missed her patrol that day, instead spending the time talking to him. Just talking. Because he was married. And that was all they'd done so far—talked. Because he was married. Leah had been obsessing over that fact.

 _Leah_ , Paul groaned when he and I were stuck running a night shift with her because Sam had upped everyone's schedules after that leech with the dreads showed up in that meadow. _Shut the fuck up. Your life isn't nearly as hard as you're making it out to be. You have an imprint. He's yours. Now stop thinking so loud about it._

Leah growled. _No he's not_ , she said stubbornly. _He's_ hers _. He's married! First Sam leaves me for Emily and now my own imprint is all over some other bitch._

Paul and I rolled our eyes in unison. For once, we had something we agreed about. _You can't find any sympathy for the girl?_ I asked. _He's leaving her for you._

 _No_ , Paul said, _he's already_ left _her for you, Leah. You're just being a bitch._

 _I am not the bitch here! He's MINE!_

 _Whatever you say,_ I sighed. _Just tone it down. We don't need to listen to your whining for the next couple of hours._

Leah was quiet for a moment before attempting to compromise. _I'll tone it down if you guys let me run by Sam's house._ AKA, the place where her imprint was staying because he refused to stay with Leah until he and his wife were officially divorced. Stupid as it was to get married so young, I had to give the guy credit for how respectful he was trying to be with the girl he married. _JACOB!_ Leah screeched, making both Paul and me wince.

 _Leah, stop it. Patrolling around Sam's house is pointless. He's there and can keep an ear out. Stick to the perimeter._ I used the most authoritative mental voice I could, just short of an order, and it seemed to work. Thank fuck.

She still kept up a steady stream of hate toward What's-her-name, but it was much quieter now so Paul and I counted our lucky stars she'd even toned it down at all and said nothing. Finally we were relieved somewhere between three and four in the morning by Sam.

 _No trouble?_ he asked.

 _None of the bloodsucker variety_ , Paul grumbled.

 _Leah,_ Sam sighed. _Elijah is fine. He's sleeping at mine and Emily's place. He told his wife about the divorce today._

Why this discussion had to happen _now_ in the pack mind before Sam had dismissed Paul and me, I could not fathom. All I wanted to do was run over and check up on Bella before going home and sleeping for as long as I could.

 _Finally!_ Leah practically cheered, though her tone was more sarcastic than happy. _Took him long enough_.

 _Maybe now that he has, you can lighten up on the guys when you're patrolling?_ Sam prompted.

Leah gave a mental roll of her eyes. _You're all such hypocrites. You know if you were in a situation like mine, you'd be throwing a fucking fit. I don't get why you give me such a hard time._

Sam sighed, deciding this was a lost cause. Hopefully she'd get more reasonable as time passed. _Whatever. You three are dismissed. Jared will be joining me soon. I can run the route myself until then._

None of us wasted any time, phasing right where we were. Leah was probably going to snoop around Sam's house to make sure her imprint wasn't doing something she didn't approve of. Because she was a bitch like that. Paul was definitely just as ecstatic as I was to get out of Leah's thoughts—and probably just as desperate to go pass out somewhere. But I couldn't do that yet.

I slid my shorts up my legs, then took off in a steady jog toward Forks. When I made it to the Swan residence, I was surprised to see that Bella's light was on. Did she fall asleep with it that way? Too curious to let it slide, I swung myself up into the tree facing her window and glanced in.

She was awake. Why? It was so late. Was she okay?

Impulsively, I threw a twig at her window. It made the barest sound and she didn't even glance in my direction. I snapped off a sturdier branch this time, wishing I'd thought to gather some pebbles for this. Tossing the piece of wood at her window, I crossed my fingers I hadn't thrown it too hard.

It hit with a solid thud, and Bella's wide eyes rose to mine. Success.

She stared at me in shock for a few seconds before rushing to her window. Sliding it open, she hissed at me, "Jacob? What are you _doing_ out there? You're going to freeze to death!"

Ha. The idea of feeling cold from the weather at all was funny. I held back a snort, choosing to use her worry to my advantage instead. "I need to talk to you. Let me in?"

Her eyes widened even further somehow, after already being big as saucers. "My dad is sleeping!"

Now I couldn't hold back a light chuckle. "Yeah, I know." I heard him snoring it up down the hall. "Move over."

She looked confused but did as I asked. The jump through her window was honestly easier than it should have been. Convenient for me, yeah, but if it was no problem for me, then it's be smooth as pie to hop on in for a vamp too. That was not good. Not good at all.

I had to be able to let her know that she needed to be more on guard. "Bella, I need you to think hard, okay? And figure something out for me."

Blinking in confusion, she asked, "What do you mean?"

Searching my brain, I tried to think of a way to say this that wouldn't have me choking on my words. As I thought, I realized how badly I needed her to get this. How I needed her to know what was going on with me. I needed her friendship back. "I told you legends, remember? On First Beach?"

She blew out a breath. "Yeah, I remember."

"What were they about?" I asked her.

She paled. "Um…"

Great. She was trying to protect her precious Cullens. "Just answer the question!" I snapped. "I'm the one who told you the legends. There's nothing you can say that I haven't already figured out." I leveled my eyes with hers, trying to imply my meaning.

After a moment, I think she got it. Her voice was a whisper now as she said, "Cold Ones."

I nodded encouragingly. "Good, good. What else?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Um…"

"Come on, Bella, you know this."

She bit her lip. "I'm blanking. Can't you just tell me? What does this have to do with anything? And don't think I'm forgetting the fact that you've been ignoring me!"

Of course she would only remember the one part of the legend. Of. Fucking. Course. "It's important!" I nearly shouted, then lowered my voice as I continued so as not to wake Charlie. "The answer to the other half of the legend is what's been going on with me. I—" I wanted to say more, but apparently I'd reached my limit. I couldn't even be angry. I'd gotten farther than I thought I would.

"Jacob?" Bella asked, worried. "Are you okay?"

Clearing my throat, I nodded. "I'm fine. Just think on it, alright? Everything will be better once you know, but you have to figure it out." A knot was making its way back up my throat and I knew if I kept talking, I'd be choking again. "I have to go now." Tugging her close to me, I held her for a brief hug. Her small body was comforting...but for some reason, having her in my arms wasn't as satisfying as it used to be. Odd. Maybe it was because of the time spent apart?

Shaking off the thought for now, I pulled back and repeated, "Think on it. Come find me when you figure it out."

And just like that, I was jumping out the window, Bella's worried voice calling for me as I sprinted into the woods. That interaction could not have gone better, and I felt great. The only thing that could make me happier right now was sleep—which I fully planned to go do.

Dad was still in bed when I made it to the house, so I did my best to make as little noise as possible as I flopped face-first onto my bed. I was almost too excited over the conversation with Bella to sleep, but after a few minutes I was dozing. It was only as I was just drifting off that it occurred to me that maybe being with Bella wasn't the right thing. I didn't know why—from what I could tell, she was all-around awesome—but it was a vague, nagging feeling in my gut.

But then unconsciousness took over and the feeling was gone.

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 **Thank you for reading! What did you think? Let me know in a review? I'd appreciate it so much! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, friends! So just with chapter one, y'all have left more reviews than I've ever gotten on a single chapter ever. THANK YOU! I wish you could know how much you made me smile. You're the best! A few quick things:**

 **\- To everyone who read YAMS and then came over to this story: I see you. And I love you.  
\- To those of you who are new and somehow stumbled across this story: I see you. And I heart you.  
\- To everyone who left a review: I replied! Unless it was anonymous, I replied - which is something I try to do when I can! (So if you like it when authors reply to review, maybe leave a review for me?)  
\- To everyone who favorited and followed: You are awesome.  
\- And, finally, to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited: Y'all gave chapter one of this story the best response I've ever gotten on any chapter ever. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I am so excited for this story, and I'm glad you guys are, too! **

**Sorry for the long note. I just really want you all to know how much I truly appreciate you. (I hope you know!) But now I'm done being sappy. Here's the second chapter of Still Breathing - Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 _Felicity's POV_

I didn't know what to do. I'd stupidly banked everything on Eli and I working out, but now I wasn't really wanted anywhere. He wasn't putting pressure on me to do much of anything. I knew he had someone working on divorce papers, but other than that he was being kind and trying to be comforting. It was so odd because he was dumping me. I should have been glad our divorce was at least civil, but I was too busy lost in confusion. He obviously still cared—I guessed it just wasn't enough.

Even though he wasn't asking me to move out or get a job or...anything, really, I tried to come up with solutions anyway. I knew that realistically, I'd likely end up with Eli helping me as much as he offered to, but I couldn't just sit by and let it happen without attempting to stand on my own two feet first.

So I looked for a job. My hopes weren't too high, because finding a job in Forks wasn't exactly a promising endeavor, but I asked around. I got a paper, because Forks was still old fashioned enough for that to be a hot spot to list for help wanted. A smidgen of luck was apparently shining down on me because after only a couple days of looking, I landed a job as a cashier at the Forks grocery store. It wasn't the most exciting thing in the world and I barely made more than minimum wage, but it was so much better than _nothing_ that I didn't even hesitate in taking it.

Next I did the unthinkable—I called my parents. First my dad, who didn't answer. Of course. Then I called Nora, my stepmom, who did answer. I regretted dialing her number shortly after, though. I'd explained the situation. I assured her I had a job and I'd do my best not to be a burden. But she told me, "We were all so glad you moved out, and now you want to come back? Your whoring ways are not welcome back, Felicity. You should have listened to us when we said that boy was no good and you were throwing your life away." Honestly, I should have been glad because that could have been so much worse. But I was already feeling like garbage, so listening to Nora tear apart my life choices sucked.

For some reason, I decided to try calling my dad again the next day. It was stupid. I should have left things alone after Nora hung up on me. But I called him anyway and this time he actually answered—and he didn't even give me a chance to speak. "Felicity, I am sorry but I am of no help to you." He didn't sound sorry in the slightest. "I warned you. I _warned_ you that marrying that boy wouldn't go well. You chose not to listen to me, and now I cannot help you. You shouldn't even be surprised because I _told you_ once you were no longer a Creswell you would be on your own." He paused and I tried to believe it was because he was getting so upset at leaving his only daughter to fend for herself, but I knew better. He was probably just out of things to say. And I couldn't think of anything to fill the silence with. So the line was quiet for a few moments. Then, "I hope you end up alright, Felicity Logan." And then he hung up on me.

After the call with Nora the day before, I was hurt but I didn't cry. I stared at the wall for half an hour, but there wasn't even an inkling of tears in my eyes.

Now, after hearing the words that came from my own _father's_ mouth, I _sobbed_. Curling up into a ball on the couch in the living room that I didn't share with anyone anymore, I cried and I cried. For how long, I was not certain. All I knew was that one moment I was alone, tears falling freely down my face, and the next, Elijah was there.

His face was right in front of mine and the concern in his eyes was a stab to the heart. " _City_?" He asked urgently. "City, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, leaning away from him. For the first time since I'd started crying, I tried to make the tears stop. I wiped at my face, sat up, and did my very best to put myself back together.

But it wasn't working.

"What happened?" Eli said softly, sitting beside me now.

Shaking my head again, I stood up to go grab some tissues, and probably wash my face too. That couldn't hurt.

It was then I realized that Eli hadn't come alone. There were two guys—two big, tall, tan guys—standing in the doorway. They seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at me while at the same time staring directly at me.

My eyes widened as I hastily left the room. I barely murmured an "I'll be right back" before the bathroom door was clicking shut behind me and I was alone in my embarrassment. Those two guys...they had to be Elijah's friends. But they weren't friends I'd ever met. They looked like they were from La Push. Which meant…

They were probably friends he'd met through _her_.

And they were here, at the apartment. Why? I knew Eli was sometimes stopping by for things, but why were two of his friends here with him? Did he plan to haul all of his stuff out today? Was he finally cutting ties with me? I'd found a job, but there was no way I'd be able to keep myself afloat yet. I didn't have much of anything saved up, thanks to the fact that my parents never really _let_ me, bent on keeping me under their thumb forever. But now I was out from under it and...I was failing. And they seemed to be done with me. Dad and Nora seemed to be, at least. I had no idea about—

 _Stop_ , I told myself. _Get yourself together and go out there to see what he wants. Maybe you're overreacting_.

There was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me I _wasn't_ overreacting, because if Eli could wake up one day and decide I wasn't enough for him anymore there was really no limit to the crap that could be piled onto my life, but I heeded the words anyway. I took some deep breaths, and this time they helped. I splashed some water on my face, which helped even more.

Without letting myself dwell anymore on where Elijah had gotten his new friends from or why they were here, I quietly opened the bathroom door and stepped toward the living room, where I'd left them.

As I reached the entryway, I heard the three guys whispering to each other.

" _That's_ your wife?" one of the men I didn't know hissed. "Shit, man, you're crazy."

I couldn't help but smile grimly. At least I had someone's approval.

"You know that's not what this is about," the other guy replied. "Who is prettier has nothing to do with it."

"Whatever, I still think you're batshit," the first one said.

"Shut up," Elijah interrupted their bickering. "I'm not blind, but I'm not dumb either. And that's all I'm going to say about that."

Neither of his friends responded to that, but I was too confused to really care. What did Eli mean by that? Not blind, but not dumb...was he agreeing with the first guy? But then he also seemed in agreement with the second one. It didn't make sense.

Though nothing had been making sense between Eli and me for a couple of weeks now, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

Before I could think on it anymore, I heard footsteps heading my way as Eli's voice called out, "City? You okay in there?"

Just as he reached the corner where I was hiding, I stepped into the room. He stopped in his tracks, eyes studying me carefully. "What happened?" he asked, his voice quiet. I knew his friends could hear every word, though. Their gazes were too intense.

I shook my head, walking over to the two strangers. "Hi, I'm Felicity." I gave the best smile I could manage and held out my hand for them to shake.

They each did, introducing themselves as they did. One was Jared. He seemed friendly and sympathetic. The other was Paul—he'd been the one to call Eli crazy. He was nice, too, but he seemed more frustrated than sympathetic like Jared had been. Interesting, considering he had zero stake in mine and Eli's relationship.

"They're a couple friends of mine," Elijah supplied after introductions were done. He was eyeing Paul in a way that made me want to smack him. He had no right to be possessive over me, not anymore. And I didn't know anything about Paul yet, but he hadn't done anything in my presence that even warranted such a look. "We kind of wanted to talk to you about something…"

The uncertainty in his tone put a frown on my face. Did they want to talk to me or not? "We can sit. Do you guys want anything to drink or eat?"

Paul's eyes lit up and Jared smiled. Before either of them could answer, Eli spoke up. "No! They don't want anything. Come on, City, let's sit." His hand landed on my lower back in a gesture that was all too familiar.

Jerking away from his touch, I glared at him accusingly. "Fine. We'll sit. But don't touch me."

Eli winced. "Sorry. It's reflex."

My frown deepened but I said nothing. I took my seat in the recliner, worried he might try to sit next to me if I took the couch or loveseat. _Reflex_ or not, he'd made me uncomfortable. Jared and Paul sat on the couch and Elijah sat all by his lonesome on the loveseat, far away from me. Good.

"So what's up?" I asked, trying to make my voice light. I had no idea what all three of these men would need to speak to me about but my curiosity was through the roof.

Eli lifted a hand, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I'm staying with a friend right now…"

My eyes narrowed. "You don't need to go into detail on who you're staying with, Elijah."

He looked so sad as he flinched. "No! City, no. I'm seriously staying with a friend right now. Just a friend. His name is Sam and he's engaged to this really nice woman named Emily and it's a really great place to stay—and I stay there alone, I swear." Hard as I was trying to not glance his way, I couldn't help but sneak a peek at his pleading expression. "I promised I wouldn't cheat on you, City, and I haven't. I _won't_. I—" he halted, pulling in a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Paul groaned, leaning back in his seat. "I did not sign up for this whiny bullshit. He's telling the truth, alright? Trust me, I've heard more than enough about it." He leveled his eyes with mine and, for whatever reason, I believed him. He wasn't here to give me bullshit.

"Whatever," I said, not having the energy to explain that emotional cheating still counted. Based on the agonized expression that took over Eli's face when he claimed he hadn't cheated, he knew. He just didn't have a good defense for it. Probably because there wasn't _any_ way to defend himself now. "What's the point?" A thought occurred to me. "You need me to move out, don't you?" My eyes widened and I felt inklings of panic start to trickle through my veins. He couldn't kick me out yet. I didn't have money for my own place and my parents had turned me away. What would I do?

"Whoa," Paul said, hands out in front of him. "Slow your roll, chick. This asswipe's not doing anything of the sort. Just chill out."

Elijah nodded. "I am not kicking you out, City. No way. I'll help you out for as long as you need it. Forever, if I have to. I know you won't believe this, but I still care. I really do. I'm not going to leave you high and dry, especially with—" he paused, studying me again. "You called them, didn't you?"

Eli always had been able to read me like a book. "Not your business, Elijah."

"You don't need them, and they definitely don't deserve to hear from you ever," he argued.

"Stop," I demanded.

He watched me closely for a moment before sighing. "You _don't_ need them. Ever."

I shook my head. We were not going to talk about this. Not with the destruction of _us_ , and especially not with his friends present. "So then why are you here?" I asked, redirecting the conversation.

Elijah looked unhappy to drop the topic but he didn't mention it. Instead, he said, "Since I'm taking up the spare room at Sam's place, that means these guys don't have their go-to place to crash. So I was hoping—wondering…"

I blinked at him. "You're asking me…?"

"If Paul and Jared can crash here from time to time?"

I blinked again, confused. Why would he need to ask me? He was the one who paid the rent. For now, at least.

"More Paul than me," Jared spoke up, his voice bright as if the tension in the room was nonexistent. "I'm either at home or my girlfriend's more often than not, but Paul…"

Paul shrugged. "I prefer to avoid my house sometimes." He said 'sometimes' in way that sounded like 'all the time.' My heart went out to him; I could relate. "And no girlfriend for me, so." He smiled widely and winked at me.

Rolling my eyes, I raised a brow at Eli, who was watching the exchange with a worried expression. "Why would you even need to ask me? It's basically your apartment."

Now Elijah narrowed his gaze in my direction. " _City_ ," was all he said, his tone indicating that he thought I was being ridiculous.

" _Elijah_ ," I replied, mine portraying my insecurity with this situation. He didn't actually need to ask me. Partly because, yeah, he paid the rent. But also because he knew I wouldn't turn away people who needed a place to stay and sleep and breathe. These obviously weren't complete strangers, so the idea that Eli thought I'd say no was disconcerting. I hated it. He was acting like I was the one that had changed.

Pulling in a deep breath, he nodded. "Yeah," he murmured, as if reading my mind. "I know. There was no way you wouldn't agree. But I wanted to ask. I've uprooted your life enough as it is, and I didn't want to throw two strangers into the mix without talking to you first."

Paul yawned while Jared added, "We wanted to meet you, too. We wouldn't want to crash with some psycho, you know?"

For some reason, I actually laughed at that. "Right."

"Awesome," Paul said, leaping up. "So that's settled. I'll find my way to the room I'm sleeping in and break in the bed now."

Elijah stood too, following Paul as he strode down the hall with another yawn. At least he seemed to be heading in the right direction.

"It'll be okay," Jared said quietly, snapping my attention back to him. Something in his gaze gnawed at me. Whether it was kindness or protectiveness or what, I had no idea. All I knew was that it was odd coming from someone I'd only just met. I chalked it up to my gut telling me we'd make fine friends.

"Yeah," I agreed. I wasn't certain he was right, but I could hope.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

Breakfast at Sam and Emily's was probably the best perk of joining the pack. Sure, we could run at freakishly high speeds and tear apart vampires for sport, but when we were done doing that we could almost always count on Emily to have some warm food waiting when we walked in her door.

As I bit into one of Em's divine muffins about a week after my trip by Bella's house, I thought, _Totally worth it_. Then I snatched up a second. And a third.

I was barely swallowing my third muffin and preparing to grab a fourth without gaining too much attention—because the room was full of werewolves and it wasn't lost on any of them that the once massive stack of muffins was quickly dwindling—when a familiar sound rumbled outside. It was like heaven to my ears and I thought for a second that I was imagining it.

But then the sound cut off and a door outside opened and closed with a metallic slam and all eyes in the room turned to me.

Paul sneered. "Your leechlover doesn't belong here."

I growled. "Shut up."

"Did you do something you weren't supposed to, Jacob?" Sam asked from where he was leaning against the counter next to Emily. She'd paused in her stirring to watch me, too.

Shaking my head, I stood. I couldn't bring Bella in here. None of my pack brothers were particularly fans of her, which I thought was stupid. Quil and Embry had liked her before, why did that have to change now that we'd shifted? And it's not like she was with the bloodsucker anymore, so why did they still have to hate her?

"I didn't tell her," I said to Sam as I walked to the door. "She might have figured it out, though."

"And, pray tell, how would she have figured it out?" Quil asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and humor. I didn't see what was funny here, but hey, it was better than the full-on glare Paul was sending my way.

I shrugged. "She already knew the legends."

"And she was already in with the enemy," Jared said, more pointing out a fact than trying to stir up trouble.

Paul took the bait anyway. "Right, she loves those bloodsuckers. So there's no reason to waste any fucking time—"

"Paul," Sam warned sternly, irate as he always got when one of us cussed around Emily.

Paul shook his head and I took his brief moment of silence as an opportunity to slip out the door. Bella was only a step away, ready to knock. When I stopped in front of her, her eyes widened and she took two large paces back, nearly falling off the porch in the process.

A smile spread across my face. She was here. She looked a bit uneasy, but that could only work in my favor—she'd probably figured it out and wanted to know the particulars. How we kept the rez safe while managing to go to school and—

"Jacob." Her tone was cold. Nothing like I'd have imagined she'd sound right now.

"Bella?" I said uncertainly.

Her lips were pressed in a hard line. "I don't think we can be friends anymore."

I stared at her for a second in shock before shouting, " _What?_ " My hands began to shake but I held myself in check. What was going on here?

"I know what you are, Jake," she said, like that should explain it all.

"I'm confused," I admitted.

Biting her lip, she looked everywhere but at me. "You're a werewolf."

I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah? So, what? Your bloodsucker was good enough for you but I'm not?" I barked out a laugh. "That's rich."

Her gaze met mine and narrowed right back. "It's not what you _are_ , Jake! It's what you _do_!"

My mouth opened, then closed. Opened again...and closed. "I'm confused again."

Bella crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "Sure, you're a werewolf. Whatever. You turn into a wolf. But you guys kill people—"

"No we don't," I rushed to say, unsure why she'd even think we did.

This stopped her up short, her lips parting as she breathed quietly for a moment. "I thought you guys were the ones attacking the hikers. You and the other guys in the La Push gang, right—Sam, Embry...I think Quil's with you now, too…"

My trembling had evaporated and I held back the urge to laugh. "Bella, no. We aren't hurting anybody. We _protect_ people."

Now it was her turn to be utterly confused. Her expression was adorably hilarious. "Then who's been attacking the people in the woods?"

All humor left my body as I answered, "Vampires, Bella. Who else?"

"Not the Cullens," she said immediately.

Bitterness gnawed at my stomach. Of course she'd try to defend them even after they abandoned her. That was part of her charm, though, right? She was loving and caring and kind. I couldn't get pissed when that extended to people who weren't me. "No, but they have attracted other vampires to the area." _And they were the reason we began phasing in the first place_ , I thought. She didn't need to know that little tidbit, however. Maybe if it came up later, I'd explain.

"So other vampires are in the area, killing people?" Her expression was horrified.

Good. About time she had a normal human reaction to those leeches. "Yes. And it's our job to keep the rez safe. We've been doing the best we can."

She seemed to be absorbing this information, still biting away at her lip. I felt a faint urge to take that lip between my own teeth...but oddly, the sensation wasn't nearly as strong as it used to be. Before I'd phased, keeping my hands and lips off of Bella had almost taken a conscious effort. I hadn't wanted to pressure her or make her uncomfortable, but man, I'd wanted her to be mine. But now...not so much. It was weird and confusing and until I could find a logical reason for it, I was labeling it a fluke. Maybe we needed to become comfortable with each other again. It had been a while since we'd really spent time together.

"So you're a werewolf?" Bella finally asked, smiling up at me.

I smiled back. "Apparently so."

"Tell me about it."

And so I did. We took a walk to First Beach and found some rocks to sit on while I told her all kinds of things: How I felt like I was burning alive with fever right before I shifted for the first time, how much easier it was to shift now, how I needed to pay much more careful attention to my anger now. How proud my father was that I'd carried on the line—not that he'd really had any doubt. How great it was to have my pack brothers, though I wanted to punch Paul in the face at least twice a week.

I told her everything I could think of, save for the fact that her precious Cullens were the catalyst to the reemergence of the pack, because I knew she wouldn't take that accusation lightly, and imprinting. I wasn't exactly sure why I avoided the topic. It wasn't like I'd met my imprint, if I even had one. There was no reason to not talk about it.

But I eased around it anyway as I shared the drama of Leah's new almost-boyfriend.

"That's terrible," Bella gasped. "How could he do that to her?"

She was talking about the guy—Elijah. How could he break up with his wife? The obvious answer was that the imprint was stronger than everything. What I told Bella, though, was, "I guess he and Leah just have a real connection."

Bella rolled her eyes at that, deeming Elijah a grade-A jerk. I hadn't spent much time with him myself, so I couldn't be a great judge but he didn't seem too bad. It sucked that his wife was getting dragged through the mud in this situation, but it wasn't like he was enjoying it. On the contrary, it seemed to be tearing him apart.

Which of course turned Leah into a raging bitch.

Yay.

I was telling Bella about our most recent leech issue when she suddenly went pale.

"A redhead?" she asked, her voice shaky.

I nodded. "Yeah—are you alright?" I raised my hands, trying to figure out how to help her.

She pinched her eyes closed. "I know what she wants."

I froze, watching her silently. She appeared to be bracing for my reaction. I lowered my hands. "You do?"

She nodded and opened her eyes. They were pooling with tears. "She wants _me_."

* * *

 **And that was Chapter Two. Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked it! Chapter Three should be up around Thursday or Friday. Until then, maybe leave me a review? I would appreciate it so, so much! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Unless you don't live in the US. Then, Happy Thursday! I DO live in the US, though, so I wanted so badly to have this chapter finished to post on the holiday. Luckily, I succeeded! But just barely. I'm leaving to go to my brother's house soon, so I haven't had the chance to do my final proofread like I always do. So if you see anything off, I'm sorry!**

 **Oh, and y'all continue to rock my world with your support. I'm almost to 20 reviews! And I've only posted two chapters! THAT IS AMAZING AND I CANNOT STOP SMILING. Not to mention the favorites and follows...you guys are the best and I adore you. If you left a signed review, I replied! If you left an anonymous review, please know that I adore you. (And if you sign in and leave a review, I'll reply directly to you!)**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 _Felicity's POV_

It only took a couple of days to realize that Paul was going to be staying at the apartment more often than not. I didn't know the particulars on why, and I didn't ask, but I could definitely understand the feeling of wanting to be anywhere but at your parents' house, so I let it be.

I also realized pretty quick that Paul was cool. He had the attitude of a ladies man with the snark and humor of a good friend. He didn't actually try to hit on me at all, though, which I was thankful for. The last thing I needed was to be fending off his advances. No, instead he was nice and funny and I could definitely see us being friends, even if we hadn't met through the connection of Elijah.

So with Paul sleeping in the extra room in the apartment and showing no signs of getting himself thrown out anytime soon, I decided it was a good idea to clean out the random things of mine and Elijah's taking up space in there. A good portion of it was easily relocated to another closet or the garage, but there were a couple boxes of items that Elijah would probably need sooner rather than later. I'd told him I had no problem with storing the belongings that he didn't take with him until he settled somewhere, but these things were work-related. Files and business clothes that I was surprised he hadn't already shown up to claim. Surely he had some work clothes with him, but he had to be washing them constantly. And I had no idea how important the files were, but the fact that he'd brought them home in the first place instead of leaving them at work kind of pointed to them as something he needed.

Which brought up the dilemma of how to get the boxes to him. I could call him—but I didn't really want him over. Or to see him at all, which was childish but nonetheless true. Maybe I could just keep them here until he asked for them. Avoid the situation until he made it unavoidable. Who was to say he needed the boxes anyway? I was only speculating. Maybe he'd bought more clothes. And maybe the papers were garbage.

But then again, what if they weren't? What if he _did_ need them?

I brought up my conflict to Paul one afternoon and he said, "Drop them off at Sam's house. I'll give you the address and some directions." Then he went back to eating his massive bowl of Frosted Flakes. Honestly, I'd never met anyone who ate as much as him, ever. The guy used a _mixing bowl_ to eat cereal, for crying out loud. And he did it while grumbling about how I needed to acquire larger bowls.

Now I gaped at him, and it wasn't because he could fit an abnormal amount of cereal in his mouth. "I can't do that!"

Paul frowned. "Why not? You said you don't want him here—so go there."

Shifting in my seat, I shook my head. "I don't know Sam, or anyone else who might be there. What if his new girlfriend is there? No," I decided. "That would be a disaster."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "His _girlfriend_ should really have some damn sympathy, don't you think? And you don't need to know anyone else who might be there. The only people who hang out there are cool."

"And you can guarantee that," I deadpanned.

"Of course I can." Paul smirked. "They're people I hang out with."

The corner of my lips twitched. "So you're cool?"

He shrugged, scooping the last few flakes into his spoon. "You said it, not me."

I couldn't help it—I snorted. "Right. So that's settled, then."

"Great." He took a sip of the milk left in the bowl. "I'll write down those directions for you."

My eyes widened. "What? No—"

"Be right back!" he called, and then he was gone. Poof. Just like that. Apparently he could move _fast_. Even further proof of that came when he strolled back into the room barely a minute later, a sheet of paper in his fingers. "For you."

Instead of reaching out and grabbing the offered paper, I glared. "No."

He grinned. "Felicity. Yes."

I continued to glare.

"You can either take this and go or I'll call Elijah and tell him you're crying and too devastated to get out of bed."

Gasping, I snatched the paper from his hand before he could say anything else. "You're the worst."

Paul laughed. "I'm the best. Don't worry, everyone there will be fine. We're not a bunch of assholes, you know."

I gave him a pointed look, but said nothing as I left the room, Paul's chuckles echoing behind me.

* * *

Later that day, I stood on the porch of an unfamiliar house, torn between knocking on the door and turning around and driving home. This was probably a terrible idea. Yes, Paul was cool, but that didn't automatically mean that this Sam guy would be fine with me dropping by for something that Elijah may or may not need. I should have just called him.

But I was already here. And I'd carried the boxes onto the porch—they were now resting by my feet.

So I decided I might as well know.

I didn't even remember giving my hand permission to lift, but next thing I knew I was knocking on the door. No turning back.

For a few weighted seconds, nothing happened. I heard nothing from the other side of the door and thought maybe I'd come at a time when no one was home. From listening to Paul, it sounded like there was always someone going in or out of this house. But maybe he'd been exaggerating.

Then the sound of soft footsteps approached from inside and my thoughts cut short as I braced myself. The door opened, and a woman a couple of inches taller than me stood on the other side. She had dark tan skin, just like Paul, and her hair was black. Her face was kind, and she had some scars torn into one half of her face. I didn't linger on that, though, as I took in her curious expression.

"Hello," she said. "Can I help you?"

Biting my lip, I tried to remember what exactly I'd decided to say. Or did I not plan that? I should have. "Um…" I shifted on my feet. "Uh, does a man named Sam live here?"

The woman nodded, right as a rather large man stepped up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I do," the man said. "And you are?"

My eyes were wide as I studied Sam. He was tall and well built. Not quite as buff as Paul, but the guy still obviously worked out. His expression was impassive as he studied me, though I thought I caught a faint flicker of recognition in his eyes but it was too brief for me to be certain.

"I'm Felicity," I practically whispered, all my confidence vanished. "I—um—Felicity Logan."

Just like that, understanding settled on both their faces. The woman even gave me a small smile.

I had no idea what they thought of why I dropped by, but I had a feeling they were building it up to be something it wasn't, so I continued before either of them could speak. "I wanted to drop off these boxes for Elijah. With Paul staying at my place so often, I wanted the room he's staying in to be clean, so I cleared out all the extra things in there. Most of it got moved elsewhere, but this is stuff I think Elijah might be missing, so I thought…" I trailed off, realizing I was rambling. The smile was gone from the woman's face now, and she was watching me with sympathy. Sam was frowning. Pulling in a deep breath, I finished, "Could you please make sure these get to him?"

Sam blinked. "You don't want to give them to him yourself?"

I was shaking my head before his sentence was even finished. "No! No, definitely not. I just wanted to drop these off and...go."

He stared at me for a moment more before nodding. "Alright." Stepping around the woman, he bent down and lifted the boxes as if they were nothing. If he weren't a stranger, I'd have made some sort of comment because I'd _struggled_ to cart those things from my car to this porch. No fair that they were apparently like feathers to him.

"Thank you," I said, moving to leave.

"Wait!" the woman called, hand outstretched toward me.

"Em," Sam said, voice soft.

"I'm Emily, Sam's fiancee. Please, come in for a few minutes. I have come brownies cooling in the kitchen. You can have one and we can talk for a few minutes." Her eyes were practically pleading with me to accept her offer, and I was so confused. Why would she want to make friends with me? If this was where Elijah was staying, that had to mean she was a friend of his new girlfriend, right?

"That's very kind of you to offer, but I couldn't."

"Please," she said.

Crap. She looked so _nice_. I opened my mouth to accept her offer—just one brownie and then I really had to leave—when a noisy truck pulled up next to my car. All three of us looked over to see a pale brunette slide out of an old red pickup, stumbling a little as she slammed the rusty door shut. She eyed me warily as she approached, and I stepped off the porch to get out of her way.

"Maybe some other time," I told Emily, torn between being glad to have an excuse to leave and kind of disappointed because Emily seemed like a great person and she'd really wanted me to stay. "You have company. I wouldn't want to intrude."

Sam remained silent, watching this whole thing play out while holding those boxes, but Emily's eyes were sad. "You wouldn't be intruding."

I didn't get a chance to respond before the brunette was stepping in front of me onto the porch, waving awkwardly at the couple in the doorway. "Hey," she said, as if she wasn't interrupting a conversation. "Is Jake here?"

Emily was leaning around her to see me and appeared to be about to say something, but a voice from inside boomed, " _Bells_!" as heavy footsteps moved closer, so I didn't wait to hear what else Emily had to say.

I turned and ran.

Well, it was more like a power walk. But either way, I raced to my car, starting it and driving away before even stopping to buckle my seatbelt. Emily had been nice and Sam had been fine, but I was not ready to take my chances with whoever that Jake guy was. Everyone there was friends with Elijah's new girlfriend. With my luck, _Jake_ would have turned out to be an asshole and I was so not in the mood to deal with that. I could barely hold it together to drop off some stupid boxes as it was.

Yeah, I did not need to have confrontations with Whatever-her-name-was' friends.

As I stopped at a red light and took a deep breath, I allowed myself to dwell on my one small victory today—I'd gotten those boxes out of my apartment and to someone who could give them to Elijah without actually having to _see_ Elijah. It was a weak win, but I'd take it.

At that point, I'd have taken anything.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

Stopping in my pursuit of sweeping Bella into my arms for a bear hug, I asked, "Who was that?" Emily looked like someone had run over her cat, and Sam was standing there with a couple of boxes in his hands with an odd expression.

Bella shrugged. "No idea. I thought you'd be at your house! I'm supposed to basically be glued to you, right?"

I smiled even though my mind was still on whoever that girl was who'd just sped away. "While I like the sound of that, and I'm all for you sticking to me like glue, you don't _have_ to attach yourself to my hip. You only have to stick to the rez—no requirement to spend that time with me." I was surprising myself with my words. Since when did I not want Bella to spend any and all time with me? I should have been taking this excuse and running with it. Maybe I was too tired. Patrols were still doubled up with the threat of the redheaded leach—who I refused to call by her name, no matter how many times Bella reminded me of what it fucking was—so that was plausible. That was probably the reason for my general faded interest in Bella, too. I wanted her to be mine, I just needed some rest to feel less...indifferent about her.

"That," Emily said, breaking into mine and Bella's conversation, an edge to her voice I didn't think I'd ever heard before, "was Felicity Logan."

My brows arched. "Really? What was she doing here?"

Sam answered that one. "Dropping off these." He bounced the boxes in his arms a little.

"Wait, that's the girl whose husband is with Leah now, right? Why was she here?" Bella asked, her face set in confusion. It was kind of adorable.

 _Kind of_? I thought to myself. _Since when did I find things about Bella only "kind of" anything?_ I really needed a nap.

"To drop these off," Sam repeated, his tone cold. Technically, this was pack business—as was anything to do with imprinting. He likely was not happy to have Bella present for this conversation.

"Was that actually the reason, or was it an excuse to see Eli?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and resting against the house.

Emily shook her head, mouth set in an annoyed line. "She didn't even ask to see him."

"Actually," Sam corrected, "she specifically asked _not_ to see him."

"So definitely not an excuse."

Emily huffed out a sigh. "She was sweet. I wanted her to come in and chat for a few minutes. I can only imagine how lonely she feels."

Bella lifted a shoulder. "At least she's polite."

I snorted. "What?"

She gave me a small smile. "She left when I showed up. Didn't want to intrude on company."

Ignoring Bella, Emily turned and stomped by me into the house. I couldn't help but gape a little at how upset she was. Emily was so kind, and I hadn't seen her get testy except for when any of us tried to snatch some food before it was ready—and even then she was simply joking. So for her to be so worked up over Eli's wife… "Did the girl say something to set off Em?" I directed my question at Sam quietly.

Sam's brows rose. "No." Then he turned and walked in after Emily, taking those boxes with him.

Bella and I shared a look, but neither of us said anything. I had no idea what was really going on, so I decided to change the subject. "Emily's got some brownies in the kitchen. Come on in and snag one before the rest of the guys show up."

Bella smiled and followed me into the house. In the kitchen, Emily was setting the brownies out on the table, a pitcher of milk next to them. I was reaching to grab a brownie to scarf while pouring some milk for Bella and me when Emily shouted, " _Elijah_! Come down here!"

It was so shocking, I actually flinched. She'd appeared to be calming down, not preparing to have an outburst like that.

Apparently I wasn't the only one caught off guard, because Elijah came rushing into the room, Leah on his heels, only a few seconds later. "Emily? Are you alright?"

Emily was glaring at the floor, visibly taking deep breaths. Sam stepped up next to her and rubbed her shoulder. That seemed to snap her out of it. "I'm fine," she said softly. "Some of your things just got dropped off. You should take it up to your room." She pointed to the boxes now stacked on the counter.

Eli's expression was curious as he walked over and opened one of the boxes. When he saw the contents, he glanced up with wide eyes. "Where did you get this?"

"It just got dropped off," Em repeated.

"So…" He paused. "City was here?"

Leah snarled. " _She_ was here!"

"Leah!" Emily scolded. "Stop it."

"They're over, does she not understand that?" Leah sneered. "Dropping by unexpectedly won't change that. She needs to get over herself."

I barked out a laugh. "Right. She's clearly the issue here. Not you and your crazy ass."

"Jacob," Sam warned.

I simply rolled my eyes in response.

"She was only dropping off these boxes," Emily explained. "She didn't even ask to see Elijah. I tried to get her to come in and chat for a few minutes over brownies, but she left when Bella showed up."

Eli frowned at Bella but said nothing.

Leah's scowl seemed to be permanently molding itself to her face. "Likely story."

The door banged open and Paul entered looking irritated. "Leah, stop being a bitch."

"You!" she yelled. "I refuse to talk to you. Practically living with _her_."

Paul laughed. "I kind of have to in order to give your precious imprint a place to stay, remember? And she's actually cool. Not that you've cared to find out." He grabbed two brownies off the plate, shoving one directly into his mouth.

"You're being nice to her, right?" Eli asked. "It's not a secret you can be—"

"An asshole," I supplied.

Eli shrugged, watching Paul.

Once he swallowed his brownie, Paul smiled mockingly. "I don't think that's any of your business, loverboy."

"Paul—" Eli started.

"No," Leah interrupted. "He's right. Why do you even care?"

Eli looked at her pleadingly. "You know why, Leah. I'm not in love with her anymore, but I still care."

"This is such bullshit," Leah said, then stomped out of the room. Instead of leaving, though, she went upstairs. To Eli's room. Where they'd have to further discuss this, again. Lucky him.

Eli sighed. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll take them up." He gathered the boxes and left the room.

"That went well," I said.

"They are…" Emily searched for a polite way to finish her sentence before saying, "...a mess."

Sam leaned back against the counter. "She needs time to adjust. She'll understand that can care greatly for other people without that taking away from how much he loves her. Eventually."

Emily nodded. "Leah's just sensitive."

Paul laughed. "Yeah, that's totally the first word that comes to mind when I think of Leah. But whatever, enough about them. What are _you_ doing here, leechlover?"

I glared at him. "Shut up, Paul."

Bella shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "You don't know?"

"Oh, I know about the redheaded bitch. Still doesn't explain why you're here, causing trouble."

"It's hardly her fault that Leah imprinted on a married dude, Paul."

He returned my glare. "But she is the one who scared away Felicity. Who, by the way, I had to practically blackmail to get her to come here. She doesn't want to see Elijah and she thinks everyone here has a grudge against her."

"That doesn't make sense," Bella said.

Paul's eyes cut to her. "You have no idea. Don't even try to understand this situation."

"Paul," Sam sighed.

"The only one here who's angry is Leah," Emily said, paying no attention to the exchange between Paul and Bella. "Maybe I should invite her over and set things straight. She doesn't need to be nervous around us."

Paul shook his head. "Probably better to leave it. You won't be able to explain—" his eyes flickered to Bella "— _things_ fully. But I might try to get her to come by for dinner or something sometime. I get the feeling she needs some damn friends."

Bella's face was drawn in confusion. "What things?"

We all ignored her.

"I guess that's better than nothing," Emily said.

"She'll be okay, Em," Sam murmured to her.

She rested her head on his shoulder as he curled his arm around her. "I know. I just remember how it was when _we_ —" she cut herself off. "She had such a hard time."

Everyone in the room except Bella knew exactly what she was referring to, and Bella clearly noticed. She widened her eyes at me, a silent request for information.

I shook my head. The list of things I'd do for Bella was long and extensive, but betray my pack was not on the list. We were keeping her in the loop on many things—holding back on telling her about imprinting wasn't a big deal at all in comparison. And she wasn't a member of the pack or an imprint, so she'd already been given much more insight into us than she ever should have. Maybe someday, if things work out in a way that ends with Bella and I together, I'd be able to tell her.

But even as I considered that, I knew deep down that would never happen. I didn't know precisely why, but I just _knew_ something would happen that wasn't in our favor.

And even as I realized that, there was a voice in the back of my head that was completely unbothered. I'd spent so much of my teenage life with a crush on Isabella Swan, but that didn't seem to matter anymore.

I didn't focus on that, though. Bella was here now, spending time with me. It was what I wanted, and I would make the best of it.

Even if my mind kept oddly straying to the girl who had fled to her car earlier that day.

* * *

 **She ALMOST met Jacob in this chapter! How many of you thought it would actually happen? When do you think she actually WILL meet him? I'd love to hear your guesses! And your thoughts in general - what did you think of this chapter?! So I'd love it if you left a review! The next chapter should be up around this time next week - Thursday or Friday, depending on how life and writing goes. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving / Thursday! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, friends! I hope you've all had a lovely week. As for me, I have been BLOWN AWAY by your response to this story. Your support and kind words mean so much to me. I can't thank y'all enough for being so amazing. I have literally happy cried thanks to you guys. You're the best! I've replied to all reviews that weren't anonymous - THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT REVIEWED - and if you left an anonymous review then please know that I adore you! A couple of things before I leave you all alone with chapter four:**

 **\- I've had some people concerned with whether or not I'll finish this story. I understand, considering stories get abandoned on here all the time. Some of my absolute FAVORITE stories have gotten abandoned too, so I totally see where you're coming from. So I promise you all here and now that I WILL complete this story. It may take me a bit of time, but no matter what, this story WILL be completed. I promise.**

 **\- WHEN WILL JACOB AND FELICITY MEET? Hmm. I don't know. I suppose y'all can just keep on reading and find out for yourselves, yes?**

 **Here's chapter four, friends. I hope you love it! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 _Felicity's POV_

Today was dragging. It was the next Friday after dropping off the boxes for Elijah, and all I wanted was to go home and sleep. But I had school and the last thing I needed was to miss a day, even if I'd worked the entire night before. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I definitely needed the money, so I was grateful for the hours. However, I also needed to graduate and skipping days every time I was a little sleepy wasn't going to work.

Therefore, I'd gone home after work this morning, showered and changed, and then was off to school, yawning all the while. Now I was in lunch, hunched over my table. I knew I should eat something to give me a little energy to make it through the rest of the day, but I needed so badly to just let my eyes close, if only for a few moments.

My eyelids were drooping when suddenly they snapped open. Someone was watching me—I could feel it. Roaming the cafeteria with my gaze, I settled on the loud and chatty table toward the center of the room. The one with the skeezy Mike Newton, the bitchy Lauren, and the obnoxious Jessica. There were others at the table, but the only ones I could stand were Angela and Ben. How they got mixed in with _that_ crowd, I'd never understand.

Also sitting at that table was the girl who'd been at Sam's house the weekend before. The one who had shown up as Emily tried to invite me to stay. I couldn't remember her name, but I vaguely remembered her being new the year before. I'd been too caught up in dealing with family issues to care much about the new girl drama. And there'd been _a lot_ of drama. She was with one of the Cullens, and then they recently left in some scandal or something. Or maybe they'd simply moved. I had no idea.

But this girl—this new girl, whatever her name was—she was staring at me. I met her gaze, unsure if she had wanted my attention. After several seconds of nothing, just her watching me with no acknowledgement or embarrassment, I rested my head on my arms and ignored her. If she wanted to stare, she could go right ahead. Not like I was anything exciting to look at.

I did hope that she kept the detonation of my relationship with Elijah to herself, though. If she was hanging out at Sam's house, the likelihood of her having knowledge of what Elijah and I were going through was high. It'd suck if she told people—like her nosy friends Lauren and Jessica—what was going on with us. We'd caused enough of a stir last semester when we got married. I was not in the mood to deal with the rumor mill chugging around my current breakup.

She kept staring at me for a few minutes. I didn't look back over at her, but I could sense when her eyes shifted away. Now I glanced over to see if I could gauge anything from her now—like maybe _why was she watching me?_ —and saw her speaking quietly with Jessica.

Great. Fingers crossed she was coming up with some lame excuse as to why she was staring and then the subject would be dropped.

The bell rang a couple of minutes after that, and I went back to trudging to my day, counting the minutes until I could go home.

Finally the time came, and I rushed as quickly as I could without hurting myself. As I was walking through the door into the apartment, Paul walked up behind me. A quick glance showed that he was also nearly dead on his feet.

"Nap time?" he asked me, voice deep with weariness.

I nodded. "Definitely nap time."

And that was what we did. Paul went to his room—I'd stopped even thinking about it as the guest room by now—and I went to mine. I changed from my skinny jeans into leggings, leaving my flowy long shirt because it was soft and comfy. Then I threw my hair up in a messy bun and snuggled down beneath my covers. I drifted off within seconds.

Sometime later, after what must have been two or three hours, I woke up. It was dark as I stumbled out of my room toward the kitchen. Hearing the crunching sounds coming from in there before I even entered, I wasn't at all startled when I saw Paul sitting at the small table, chomping his way through what looked like an entire bag of chips. His face still looked tired, indicating that'd he'd just woken up, as well.

"You should've woken me up instead of eating that crap.," I told him. "It has to be dinnertime by now. I would have made something. Now you've spoiled dinner."

Paul gave me a droopy smile. "You know by now that I could still eat three dinners after this tiny bag of chips." He paused, studying the part-sized bag of Lays. "Maybe four."

I laughed. "Probably five."

"See!" He pointed at me. "You know what's up."

Rolling my eyes, I began to root through the refrigerator, trying to decide what I could make for us. I hadn't taken anything out earlier, since I'd been in a rush to get to school after work this morning, and then I'd been eager to get in bed to nap after returning home from school.

"Hey," Paul said, his hand landing on my shoulder. I flinched a little. How did he move across the kitchen without making a sound? "Go put your shoes on. We'll go somewhere else to eat tonight."

My eyes widened. I could not afford to eat out right now. I was saving what I could to get my own place—one that wasn't sponsored by Elijah Logan. Every spare penny that wasn't for food went to that fund.

Paul read my expression and sighed. "Don't worry about paying for anything. Just put on some shoes and let's go." He moved to walk out of the room, likely to follow his own advice and grab some showed. And probably a shirt, too, since his muscled chest was currently very bare.

I remained in the same spot, shifting on my feet. "Where are we going?"

Apparently understanding my thoughts again, Paul said, "You look great. Don't worry about changing. Just go _put on some shoes_." I could tell his patience was wearing thin, so I complied. Paul was nice and had been a good friend so far. I could trust him.

Once I had shoes on, I met Paul by my car. He had, in fact, put on a shirt. "Keys," he ordered, holding his hand out and wiggling his fingers.

Shrugging, I handed them over. Not like I was particularly itching to drive anyway. And it seemed to be one of the days where Paul was here without his own mode of transportation. Sometimes he arrived with a car, and other times he got her seemingly on foot—which was odd, especially this far into winter when it was still freezing outside, but I didn't question him. He was my friend, but he also had a right to some privacy.

"So where are we going, exactly?" I asked once we were on our way.

He peeked at me from the side of his eye. "Promise not to freak out."

I froze. "What?"

"Promise not to freak out and start yelling or hitting me or whatever and I'll tell you where we're going."

My brow furrowed. "Where are we going?"

"Do you promise?" he pressed.

I paused. Why would I even freak out? I did not like the sound of this. But I also had no plans to yell at or hit Paul, so I said, "Promise."

He released a breath, then said, "Sam and Emily's."

" _What?"_ I gasped, my breathing coming too fast now. "No, no, no. Paul, no."

Paul looked over at me for a second before focusing back on the road we were on—which I now realized led to La Push. "They're great people, Felicity. I promise. No one there hates you or is going to attack you or anything." He frowned. "Besides, if they did, I'd have your back. We're friends, right? What kind of friend do you think I am?"

He had a point. We were friends and he'd given me no reason he was throwing me to the wolves. "You're right," I said with a sigh. "But…"

"He won't be there," Paul assured me. "Neither will she. They're elsewhere tonight."

I bit my lip. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright. Thank you."

Paul laughed. "You don't sound too eager there, doll."

My brows rose. "Did you just call me _doll_?"

He grinned. "Your name is a damn mouthful. And no way I'm using _his_ nickname for you. So _doll_ it is. Deal with it."

I laughed. "Whatever you say, _Paulie_."

He groaned. "That just sounds wrong."

"Deal with it."

We talked and joked the rest of the way, until we pulled up in front of the not-so-unfamiliar house I'd visited last weekend. Paul got out of the car, but I was rooted to my seat. I was too nervous and shaky.

Paul opened my car door for me, a hand outstretched to help me out. "Come on, doll. You've got to taste some of Emily's cooking. It's near as good as yours." He said that last softly, as if he didn't want to be overheard. If I weren't in the middle of an internal freak out, I would have smiled.

"Paul…"

"Come on," he repeated. "We are not going back to that fucking apartment where you'll cook. You need a break."

I frowned at him. "I'm fine."

"You're working yourself to death," he argued. "Why the fuck does Forks need a 24-hour grocery store anyway? There cannot be enough demand to support that."

My lips twitched. "There's not. We use the extra hours at night to go through inventory and restock."

Paul snorted. "Glad we got that cleared up. Now come _on_." He tugged on my hand, pulling me up to stand next to him. His arm went around my waist as the other hand slammed the car door shut. Then he was leading me toward the house, not giving me any chance to back out.

The front door opened when we were on the porch and Emily stood in the doorway. "Felicity!" she called, smiling. "Welcome! We're so glad you came back."

I hadn't exactly been given a choice, but… "Thank you for having me."

"Come in, come in," she urged, stepping aside. Again, Paul propelled me forward, moving with me.

We walked through a cozy house into a kitchen. There were pots and pans all over the stove and I could smell something delicious cooking in the oven. Standing near the stove stirring something was Sam. "Hello, Felicity."

He was so intimidating. Not in size, but in how he looked at you. Studied you. His dark eyes missed nothing. "Hi," I practically squeaked out.

Paul's arm tightened around me the barest bit, then he let me go. "Sit," he said.

Not in the spirits to get into a bickering match with him in such unfamiliar territory, I did as he said and slid into one of the chairs at the table. He did the same, choosing the seat next to mine.

Emily walked back into the room, shooing Sam away from the stove. "How have you been, Felicity?"

"Fine," I said, cringing at my complete fail to aid in making polite conversation.

Luckily my good friend Paul filled in the gaps for me. "That's bullshit. She's tired as fuck."

Sam sighed. "Paul."

Paul grinned.

"Oh, dear," Emily said, ignoring the interaction between Paul and Sam. "I'm even more glad you came over tonight, then. You get a little time to relax."

I nodded, not daring to disagree even though _relaxed_ was definitely not the word I'd have used to describe myself at the moment.

Then another large man entered the room, and I recognized him.

He apparently recognized me too, and he smiled. "Hi, Felicity."

"Hello, Jared." I tried to force a smile back but failed.

He turned his focus to Emily. "Sorry to bail, but I just got the okay for dinner at Kim's. Her parents are starting to not hate me." He appeared both very pleased and very relieved with that fact.

Emily nodded. "Of course, go. We'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, Jared gave the room at large a quick goodbye before rushing out. And back it went to just Paul, Sam, Emily, and me.

But that only lasted for about two seconds before there was a knock at the door.

Paul groaned as Sam went to answer it. "What?" I asked quietly.

He didn't answer. He was too busy sneering toward the doorway.

Sam came back quickly, the girl from school who's been staring at me earlier trailing behind him. Paul was sneering at her?

"Jake's not here," Paul told her, his tone rude.

"Paul," I whispered.

He ignored me as the girl responded. "He said he'd meet me here. I guess I just got here first." She looked at me. "Hi, Felicity."

She knew my name? How did she—oh, of course she knew my name. She had to have heard it around here sometime. I had no clue what her name was, though. "Hi…" I trailed off.

Paul snorted. "That's Bella Swan." He was clearly not her biggest fan.

"Hi, Bella," I said, attempting to make up at least a little for Paul's bad manners.

"Are you and Jacob staying for dinner?" Emily asked, pulling a pan out of the oven. Who was Jacob? Her boyfriend? I wasn't exactly itching to have more people to make nice with during this meal. I was already nervous enough.

Bella nodded. "He wants to get in a good Emily meal while he has the chance to without Le—"

"Shut up," Paul barked.

I blinked at him, but he was glaring at Bella. Le—what had she been about to say? A name? It had to have been a name.

Oh. _Her_ name. Because she and Elijah weren't here tonight. Were they that bad to be around? Why?

No. I stopped my thoughts from heading down that road. They were not my business. I didn't care. I had my own life to focus on.

Bella blushed. "Sorry."

Emily got back to the topic at hand. "Jacob's lucky I always anticipate an extra boy or two, because he gave me zero warning." Her statement was scolding but her tone was fond. She obviously didn't mind in the slightest cooking for these extra people. She was nice.

The sound of the front door opening reached the kitchen then and a deep voice called, "Is Bells here yet?"

It was the same voice that had come from inside the house the last time I was here. And for some reason, it sent off a response in me. All I wanted to do was get up and move. I wanted to leave. So I stood up, paying no heed to Paul telling me softly to sit back down, and practically ran out of the room.

But before I reached the door, I collided with a solid chest. Bouncing off of it, I fell to my ass on the floor.

I didn't want to, but I couldn't help myself—I glanced up to see the face of the person I'd run into. My eyes met warm, concerned brown ones.

And then I passed out.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

I was running late. I'd told Bella we'd meet at Sam's house for dinner, because a peaceful meal cooked by Emily was nearly impossible to come by lately with Leah's negativity dragging things down. But Dad wanted to go to the Clearwaters' to sit in on the family dinner with Leah's new imprint. Which meant I got the pleasure of not only driving him but walking in and making nice for an acceptable amount of time before bailing.

The Clearwaters were nice people. I liked them. And they were practically family, since Dad and Harry were such great friends. But I'd been really looking forward to not having to deal with the Leah and Elijah drama today.

And the drama was _neverending_ —clearly evidenced by the fact that I'd just gotten Dad inside about a minute ago, and Leah was causing trouble already.

"Did you hear that she tried to see him last weekend?" she was saying to her mother. I knew Leah could be bitchy, but the level of pettiness she's stooped to lately was almost sad. "Said she was dropping off some _boxes_." As if boxes was some secret code for something more.

I walked over to give Sue a kiss on the cheek in greeting. "Probably had something to do with the fact that she actually had boxes to drop off."

"Shut up, Jacob." Leah scowled. "Why are you here, anyway? I don't remember anyone inviting you."

"Leah!" her mother scolded.

"Actually," Dad said, rolling closer, "I asked him to drop me off. He's just here to say hello and then he's leaving. Though I'm sorry to hear that you're so dissatisfied with your imprint."

Leah's eyes widened and I could have sworn I saw her cheeks darken a tinge. "Oh, I'm not dissatisfied…"

"You sure sound like it," he challenged. Okay, now I was glad I was here to see this. It was about time someone shut Leah up.

"It's not Elijah," she tried to defend herself. "It's—"

"Are you talking about City again?" Elijah asked, walking in with Harry. At least they appeared to get along just fine. "She dropped off some boxes of stuff I needed with Sam and Emily and then left. That's all that was. I didn't even see her."

Dad rose his eyebrows at Leah.

Leah crossed her arms and huffed out a breath. "I don't like her."

"You haven't even met her," I pointed out.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Weren't you leaving?"

I smiled, feeling smug. "This is kind of amusing and I've got a few minutes to spare." I really didn't, but she didn't need to know that.

Elijah walked over to me, hand extended. "Hey, man."

"Hey. Still putting up with that?"

Elijah smiled as he shook my hand and then Dad's. "She's worth it. Things will get sorted eventually. Hello, sir," he said to Dad. "I'm Elijah Logan. It's great to meet you."

"And you," Dad said. "I heard about your predicament. It's a good thing you're doing for your old girl. Keeping her on her feet even though you have to deal with Leah's displeasure. Very respectable—you're a good man."

Elijah blinked, expression shocked. "Thank you, sir. City...she's important. I can't just ditch her."

Dad smiled. "Call me Billy, son. And I understand. Loving Leah doesn't defeat the ability to care for others. Leah will catch on to that sometime. Until then…"

Elijah shrugged. "It's all worth it."

"How is Felicity?" I asked, curious for reasons unknown to me.

His brow furrowed. "I don't...I think she's alright. Paul would have said otherwise. Right?" He sounded worried.

I shrugged. "Sure, sure. He's practically living there. If something were wrong, he'd be the one to know. Sorry I brought it up," I added when his concerned expression didn't dissipate.

"Elijah…" Leah called him over.

"Well, that's my cue to go," I said, stepping toward the door. I didn't need to witness the imprinted couple in each other's space. Elijah was being _very_ conservative until he and Felicity were officially divorced—the most they'd done that I knew of was hold hands and hug a little. If I was lucky, that'd be all I'd ever have to pick up from Leah's mind.

I said my goodbyes and then was out the door and driving toward Sam and Emily's. Bella would surely be there by now. Hopefully Paul wasn't there. He tended to release his inner asshole more than usual when she was around.

Pulling up in front of Sam and Emily's house, I eyed the other car I was parking near. It was unfamiliar, and there weren't any neighbors close enough for the car to be for them. There were too many trees separating Sam from his neighbors. Who could—

Wait. The car wasn't unfamiliar. It was the same one that girl—Felicity—had climbed into last week. She was here?

I couldn't fathom why, but my heart began to beat faster as I held back from rushing into the house. I needed to act normal. Freaking the poor girl out with my oddly intense interest was not a good idea.

Entering without knocking, I called out, "Is Bells here yet?" There. That was normal.

But apparently it still set off Felicity because the next thing I knew, Paul was telling her to sit down as she was storming toward the door—right at me.

Normally my reflexes would have been more than enough to move out of the way to avoid a collision, but something held me rooted in place. All I could do was stand there as she ran into my chest. When she did, a current of fierce warmth ran through my body. It rendered me immobile so that my reflexes again failed as she fell to the floor.

Then our eyes met.

I stared into her vibrant blue eyes as my entire world shifted. My breaths became short as everything else faded away until there was only her. She...she was everything. Only she mattered.

Then she passed out, her head hitting the floor with a _thump_.

A second later and I was on my knees beside her, pulling her limp body into my lap. I ran a hand over her head, feeling for a bump. Her eyes stayed closed, lashes resting against her smooth skin. She was so damn beautiful.

"Shit," I heard Paul curse. "Is she alright? Why didn't you catch her?"

He stepped closer and I looked up to snarl, "Mine."

Paul's eyes widened, shock infusing his features. "Holy fuck."

"Mine," I repeated when he didn't back away even a smidge.

Sam walked up behind Paul, studying my position on the floor with my entire world in my lap. "He's imprinted."

* * *

 **There we have it, y'all! FINALLY! What do you think? I'd love to know what you think!**

 **The next update should be up next Thursday or Friday, as always. Until then, I look forward to reading your feedback and thank you so much for reading! I heart you all! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, friends! I'm sorry this update is a little late. I'm in college, and the semester is close to ending. So I had a big presentation on Thursday and then a final on Friday. I tried to get this chapter done and ready to go yesterday night, but then decided to wait until today so that I didn't rush it. I'd rather be a day late than rush to finish a chapter of crappy quality. My last day of class is on Wednesday, so I don't anticipate this problem happening next week. Either way, though, I'm sorry!**

 **In other news, y'all continue to blow me away with your reviews. You are so kind, and we're over 50 reviews! ALREADY! Ohmygoodness. You guys are the best and I appreciate you so much. I've replied to all reviews that weren't left by guests, and if you are a guest and left a review, then please know that I heart you big time. Thank you for reading my story and giving me feedback! Also, thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed Still Breathing - your support means so much to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.**

 **Now, here's chapter five. I hope you like it! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

 _Felicity's POV_

Someone was...growling? My brain was foggy, but even as I tried to wade back toward consciousness I knew that wasn't right. People didn't growl. Or at least, not like _that_. It sounded like an actual beast. And yet I somehow knew it was a person.

So someone was growling.

And my head _hurt_.

Groaning, I lifted a hand to my head, trying to feel for a bump. When had I hit my head? Did I—my thoughts stopped as my hand connected with another that was already feeling around my hair. A _zing_ went through my body.

Snapping my eyes open, I squirmed. I was in someone's arms. _His_ arms—the guy who'd sent that odd, thrilling warmth shooting through my veins. I was torn between staying there on his lap forever and running away. Before, running away had won.

This time, running won again. This was too weird. I'd only seen the guy and he'd set off such a response that I passed out. And now he had me in his arms and he was growling. I needed to get out of here.

"Wait," he pleaded. "You hit your head. I need to make sure you're alright."

The worry in his tone almost made me listen to him, but I was still too freaked out to listen. "No, no, no, I need to _go_."

"Jake…" a soft, feminine voice asked, sounding confused.

The guy—Jake, apparently—ignored her. "How do you feel?"

"Let go of me," I said.

"Jacob," a man ordered. I glanced over and saw it was Sam. Would he help me? I hoped so. "Give her some space."

Jake's growl kicked up a notch. I flinched and he immediately went silent. "Sorry," he murmured. "I don't mean to scare you. I just need to make sure you're okay. I didn't catch you. I should have caught you."

"I need to go home," I said, looking around. My eyes snagged on a friendly face, though he appeared kind of upset at the moment. "Paul! Help me. I want to go home."

Paul stepped forward. Jake paused feeling around on my head to shoot him a glare, but Paul's focus was on me. "How do you feel, doll? You seriously did whack your head pretty good on the floor there."

Why did they keep asking me questions. I wanted to leave, not sit here and chat about my throbbing skull. "I'm fine," I lied. "Now, can we please go?"

"Jake, what are you doing?" said the girl who I now identified as Isabella Swan. "Let her go."

Jake shook his head, his eyes on my face. "I need you to be okay," he whispered to me.

The solemn tone to his voice caught me off guard. This was our first meeting. I'd literally never seen this guy before in my life. But he was seriously concerned about me. Was it because I'd run into him? Did he feel responsible? It wasn't like it was his fault I couldn't watch where I was going. "I'm alright."

He frowned. "You're lying."

My eyes narrowed. "If I say I'm fine, then I'm fine. Let me go."

Paul's hand appeared next to my face. "Let her up, Jake. We'll bring her into the kitchen and get her some ice."

"But—" I started to protest.

Paul cut me off with a look. "We came here for dinner and we're staying here for dinner. Come on." He waved his hand a little, a clear signal to take it.

I wanted to leave, but if I couldn't do that then I'd accept getting out of this Jake guy's arms. Placing my hand in Paul's I let him pull me up—or try to. Jake's hold on my tightened. I squirmed, because there wasn't much else I could do. He was _strong_...and I refused to allow heat gather in my stomach at the realization of the musicled body I was currently resting against.

"No," Jake practically barked. "Mine."

I stopped squirming, both startled into stillness and afraid. His? "What?"

"Jacob," Sam said again, a rumble to his words giving the cadence of an order that was not to be disobeyed. "Let Paul help her up, then join us in the kitchen." He paused, his gaze assessing. "Unless you cannot handle it?"

It was then that I noticed that Jake was trembling. It hadn't been much before, but with Sam's words, Jake was taking audible breaths in order to calm down. And now I really wanted to not be in his lap, muscles or no muscles.

"Come on," Paul murmured. His hand was still in mine and this time when he tried to pull me up, Jake allowed me to stand. Paul led me to the kitchen, past a stern Sam and a confused Bella, with Jake following closely. The food had already been set out by Emily, who waved me toward a seat. Paul sat next to me on one side. Jake slid into the chair on my other side.

Bella took the seat next to him, eyeing his expression nervously. I couldn't blame her—he looked somewhat unhinged. But it didn't scare _me_. I was off kilter, but not with negative emotions, and it was freaking me out. "Jake…?" Bella asked, trailing off.

Finally, he ceased staring at me and snapped his head around to her. He blinked a few times, as if clearing his head. "Yeah, Bells?" Hearing him call her _Bells_ suddenly made me want to hate her.

"What's going on?" Her eyes were wide as saucers.

Sam, who was sitting next to Paul, answered before Jake could. "They ran into each other, Felicity fells down, and it knocked her out—which scared Jacob and caused his protective instincts to kick in. That's all." He spoke confidently, but there was an odd warning alarm going off in my brain telling me that he was lying. But why would he lie? And what other explanation could there be? This whole thing was strange.

Bella didn't appear entirely convinced, either. "But what was that you were talking about? Printing?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"Just drop it, Swan," Paul sneered, serving some food on both my plate and his. "Some things aren't your business."

One brow rose. "So there is something more."

"Bella," Jake said quietly, his voice tired, "leave it alone."

"But—"

"I said leave it!" he snarled. His fists were clenched and I noticed he was trembling again. I didn't know what possessed me, but my hand lifted. I pressed a finger to the back of one of Jake's fists, then wrapped my hand around his as well as I could—his were quite large.

His shaking stopped completely as his eyes turned to me. I'd expected them to be furious, whether with residual anger from Bella's questions or with annoyance at me touching him without permission, but instead they were...gentle. Warm. A small sigh escaped my lips.

The edges of his lips tipped up the barest fraction. "Hey," he murmured. "I don't think we've formally met. I'm Jacob Black."

I couldn't hold back the small smile I gave in return. "Hello, Jacob. I'm Felicity."

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

I'd never expected to imprint. There was a bare hope when I saw Bella for the first time after shifting, but after that I'd given up on the idea. Partially because if I couldn't have Bella, I didn't want to imprint, and partially because it was a whole lot of responsibility I didn't want thrust upon me.

Now that I'd actually met my imprint, though...all those negative thoughts went out the window.

She was everything.

And I couldn't stop freaking her out. I could tell she was uneasy—with my possessiveness and my sudden intense interest. And surely she had at least some echo of emotion similar to what I was currently experiencing. Of course she'd be freaked out. I needed to pull myself together and make this easier.

That was where my mind was when we entered the kitchen and sat down. I wanted to act more in the realm of normal and soothe my imprint—and make sure she ate something, too, because she was damn thin. Fragile. It made me worry.

But then Bella started questioning things. Honestly, I'd forgotten she was even there. Which probably made me a shitty friend, but that was not my main concern at the moment. No, I was focused on my imprint and what _she_ needed, but Bella wouldn't drop the subject. Even after Sam gave a perfectly reasonable explanation. It pissed me off. Which inevitably had me holding back the shift, because I was so damn sensitive it was almost ridiculous.

Then she touched me. It was only a finger at first, but then her entire tiny hand was covering mine.

And I froze. My trembling stopped. My mind quit its incessant spinning. My breathing calmed.

There was nothing other than her. _Her_.

Our eyes met and held, a serene warmth passing between us that had the barest of smiles tinging my lips.

Neither of us said anything for a few moments, then I decided to break the ice. If she was too nervous to take that step, I'd gladly do it. "Hey," I said quietly, making my voice as gentle as possible. She'd had enough to creep her out tonight, no need to add to all that now. "I don't think we've formally met. I'm Jacob Black."

She returned my tiny while releasing the sweetest little sigh. "Hello, Jacob," she said, and I knew right there and then that there would never be a more beautiful sound than her voice—than my name on her lips. "I'm Felicity."

We were very distinctly _having a moment_ , and I was loving it. So of course it had to be ruined—by Bella who said, "He already knew that."

Shocked back into reality, where there was an entire world spinning around us that included lots more people, Felicity snatched her hand back and leaned away into her chair. I turned to look at Bella too, reining in my irritation. Bella didn't know about imprinting. She didn't know how important these moments with Felicity were. For all Bella knew, I was having an off day and she was just trying to be a good friend and have my back.

"Still," I said, forcing my tone to remain light, "it's always good to be officially introduced."

Emily, who'd been silent through this entire imprinting ordeal, agreed. "And I'm glad you two have met. Now get to eating before it gets cold."

No further prompting was needed. We dug in with gusto, us wolves not leaving anything leftover on the table. I vaguely noticed Bella eating too, but I was more attentive to how Felicity spent more time moving food around on her plate than actually eating it. I wanted to say something but didn't know how to without startling her. We'd only met today and she knew nothing about werewolves or imprints. Showing too much interest too soon would only scare her away.

Besides, who was to say we'd even be a couple, anyway. My mind seemed to keep spiraling in that direction—but she was going through a break-up. A _divorce_ , no less. She probably wouldn't want to jump into a new relationship right now. And I had Bella. Sure, my feelings had dimmed. Especially in the past hour since imprinting. But the bond was new, maybe it'd fade a bit once Felicity and I settled into a friendship. Then I'd be able to at least see how things could work out with Bella and me.

Or maybe things would remain platonic with both Bella and Felicity. I didn't know what would happen, but I had options. I just needed time to sort my head out and let things happen as they may.

Even as I told myself that, my instincts rebelled. Bella wasn't for me—Felicity was. And whether I had to go through some time of being her friend and helping her through her divorce, I'd do it if it meant having her as my own in the end. Because she was the most important person. She was my world.

My mind was saying to consider all options while my instincts pointed to only one. I was a mess.

Luckily I was pulled out of my thoughts when Paul leaned toward Felicity and ordered, " _Eat_."

She frowned at him. "I am."

"More."

"Stop being bossy."

He glared at her, but even as I wanted to _make_ him look away from her I saw that it was a fond glare. The type one would give a beloved friend or sibling. He'd been staying at her apartment for barely a month, if that, and already they'd formed a solid friendship. I couldn't help but wonder if the impending imprint had played a part in that. If maybe Paul's wolf instincts had alerted him to that fact that she'd soon become an honorary pack member, and that drove him to get closer.

Paul was still giving her that soft glare. "Eat more. You're fine here. There's no reason to be nervous." I wished I could reassure her the same way Paul was, but it wouldn't mean much coming from _me_ , a stranger she'd crashed into in the hallway who had been acting more than a little off all evening.

She glared right back at him, but also stabbed some food on her plate and put it in her mouth. Even though she did this while looking at Paul like she wished to murder him, I'd say it was a success. And judging by the amused light in Paul's eyes, I think he was saying the same.

"So how are you?" Bella asked, again ending a moment—at least this time it wasn't mine.

Felicity faced her, still chewing, and raised her eyebrows.

Bella gave her a tight smile. "I've heard about...you know...and I know you're still in school...and, I just...how are you?"

Felicity's brows furrowed now as she swallowed her food. There was a sad flicker in her eyes, and I hated it. But there was nothing I could do. Not yet. _Not yet not yet not yet_ , I repeated to myself. "I'm fine," Felicity said, her voice tense. Her entire body tense, actually. I wanted to reach out and touch her the way she did me. She'd helped _me_ calm down. But I knew what was going on right now—she had no clue. Touching her would only serve to freak her out more.

Under the table, my hands turned to fists as I tried to control their trembling.

Bella nodded uncertainly. "You looked…"

"Leave her alone, Swan," Paul said, more resigned than angry this time. "I just promised her no one would bother her so she could eat. Don't make me a liar."

Bella shrugged. "I'm only trying to be nice."

I could see Paul's gury gaining new life, so I spoke up. "She's not trying to hurt anyone, Paul. Calm down."

Felicity, who'd taken another bite, paused in chewing to glance at me. I wasn't sure what emotions I saw stirring there, exactly, but I definitely didn't like them. But then she turned her head down to face her plate and went on eating.

Even when she wasn't looking at me, though, I could feel the weight of her upset. It clawed at my skin.

"Maybe now isn't the best time to ask those questions," Emily said. She and Sam had been sitting in their spots watching this all play out carefully. We were walking a fine line. Six people here, one of which didn't know the werewolf secret and another wasn't allowed to know the imprint secret. And one who _was_ allowed to know about imprinting hadn't been informed yet, so there was double chance for slipping up and confusion. It was probably a good thing Emily and Sam were here to keep watch.

"And, however well-meaning, it probably isn't the best time to defend someone being nosy, either," Sam told me, a warning glint to his gaze.

So that was why Felicity had given me that look. Shit.

Bella had apparently lost her filter tonight and didn't know when to keep quiet, because she asked, "Why not? Jake's allowed to speak up for a friend if she's being bullied by a jerk."

"Hey," Felicity argued in her soft voice. "Paul's just looking out for me. Leave him alone."

Bella smirked, and I was shocked. The expression was almost rude—I had no idea Bella had a rude bone in her body. Well, no one purpose, anyway. "He's terrible all the time, Felicity. I know you're new so you don't realize that yet, but you probably shouldn't be defending him."

Felicity's lips pressed into a line, her anger clear on her face. It caused my blood to start boiling. But she was mad at _Bella_...I couldn't side with Felicity in that. Could I? My shaking increased. "So maybe Paul isn't your biggest fan. That's not a crime, Bella."

"Yeah, you're definitely new here," Bella said condescendingly.

Felicity released a heavy breath, the fight seeming to go out of her even though she was furious. Standing up, she faced Emily and Sam. "Thank you for having me, but it's time for me to go."

"Felicity, doll," Paul tried to stop her.

"No," she said. "Come on if you're with me, but I'm leaving now." Then she left quietly, not stomping or slamming anything in her haste. She was simply _done_.

Paul snarled at me as he moved to follow her. "Fucking great, Jake. Glad your leechlover is already messing shit up." And then he was gone, the door crashing closed behind him. Seconds later, a car started out front.

When the sound had faded and I knew Felicity was actually gone—without giving me the chance to say goodbye or even have a proper conversation with her—I turned to Bella, trying to gain a firm grasp on my temper. "What was that?"

Bella blushed. "I was only being honest and standing up for myself. It's about time I did that more often, don't you think?"

"Bella," I practically whined. "You scared her away."

She rolled her eyes. "So? She had enough going on right now; hanging out here probably isn't in her best interest. Besides, she's friends with _Paul_."

"Paul," Sam rumbled, "is our pack brother. We respect him."

"So you're saying he's not a jerk more often than not?" she challenged.

"I am _saying_ , Isabella, that it might do you well to be kind to those who protect you. Instead of making those they care about uncomfortable and then waving it off like it's nothing."

Bella frowned in confusion. "You're going to stop protecting me against Victoria because of _that?_ "

Emily sighed. "Bella, now would probably be a good time to quit asking questions and go home."

Bella looked to me, her eyes wide. "Jake—"

I couldn't take this anymore. I stood from my chair before she could finish whatever it was she was going to say and strode out of the room. "See you later, Bella," I called out behind me as I raced out of the house and into the woods. I barely had my clothes off before I shifted.

I needed to run. To sort out my head and figure out how to fix this.

I'd met my imprint today—and it was a disaster.

* * *

 **So...what'd you think? Did you like it? I'd love to know! The next chapter will be up next Thursday or Friday. Thank you all so much for reading! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, lovely people! I am so sorry I took a few extra days to post this. While I physically went to my last class of the semester on Wednesday, I still had some homework (some of it unexpected, but definitely welcome to help get my grades up to where I want them) to finish through Saturday. It was such a time suck. But now I've got this chapter written for you! PLUS, I've been doing a lot of thinking and have the next few chapters totally figured out, which means MAYBE I can do an extra update this weekend for the holiday...but we'll see!**

 **As always, thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed! I've replied to all that weren't anonymous, and if you left an anonymous review, please know that you rock my socks off. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Honestly, I happy cried a little going through the reviews because y'all are so kind. And we're OVER 60 REVIEWS right now! Dear goodness. My mind is blown. THANK YOU.**

 **And also, to everyone who has favorited and followed, thank you for your support. I appreciate it more than I can say.**

 **Now, here is chapter six! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 _Felicity's POV_

Paul tried to talk to me during the ride home, but I cut him a look every time that caused him to quiet. I couldn't handle a conversation right now. I needed to breathe and relax and think first, or else I would say things I didn't mean.

Paul didn't deserve my anger. All he'd done was try to take me to a friend's house for dinner because he'd noticed I was getting worn out. He didn't know the situation would go down the drain thanks to Bella Swan's ignorance. Nor did he know that I'd be set so off kilter by his friend—by Jacob.

When we got home, I went straight to my room. I kicked off my shoes, shrugged off my coat, and crawled under the covers, needing to clear my head. Otherwise my mind would keep spinning and nothing made sense. So I closed my eyes and paced my breathing.

Behind my eyelids, I saw Jacob Black's face. His warm, dark eyes.

And it was that sight that soothed me to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up and everything was peaceful for about a second.

Then the night before crashed into me and I nearly groaned in mortification. Had I really overreacted so terribly? Yes, yes I did. Why in the world would I let Bella Swan's careless words get to me? Especially when Paul could so clearly stand up for himself? I should have kept my mouth shut. I'd made a fool of myself and Paul in front of his friends.

Sighing, I rolled out of bed. I'd make it up to him. First step—breakfast. Paul was a sucker for everything edible...and even a few things that weren't.

Padding to the kitchen, I was alarmed by the sounds coming from my destination. It sounded like someone was trying to actually cook in there. Finally making it to the doorway I saw that there was, in fact, someone attempting to cook in the kitchen.

I stood there in shock as Paul used a spatula to flip an already burnt pancake—which landed on the stove next to the skillet instead of in it. He cursed and I couldn't help but giggle.

Paul spun around, lifting his spatula in defense. It only served to make me laugh some more. "What are you doing?" I asked between snickers.

He did his best to hold a stern expression, but his lips were twitching in response to my laughter. "Cooking you breakfast like the amazing friend I am, obviously."

"Doesn't seem to be going too well."

"It's the thought that counts," he said, turning back to the stove. "Pancakes aren't my specialty. But I know you like them. I even included chocolate chips."

My eyes widened. "You did?" I rushed over to peek at the batter in the bowl on the counter. Yes, those were chocolate chips in there. "Move," I said, bumping him aside with my hip and swiping the spatula.

"Hey!" he whined. "I'm making those for you."

I shook my head. "No way am I letting you ruin perfectly good chocolate chip pancakes. You can pour orange juice or something."

He frowned. "I could cook bacon?"

"Good," I said, focusing on the pancakes I was making—his sad attempt discarded on a plate.

Paul took the plate with the wasted pancake and moved toward the trash. He stopped next to it, looking between the plate and the garbage can, his face set in thought. Then he lifted the pancake and shoved the entire thing into his mouth.

I cringed. "Gross."

He grinned. "Not all that bad, actually. Though I'm sure yours are going to be better." He set the plate back on the counter and went to fetch the bacon from the refrigerator, and then another pan from the cupboard. "Scoot over," he ordered as he joined me at the stove and began to get his pan ready.

"You know," I said, "I was going to make breakfast for you. To make up for yesterday."

Paul's brow wrinkled. "Why? You have nothing to make up for." Bacon sizzled as he laid it in the pan.

Flipping a pancake, I pursed my lips. "Yes, I do. I was an idiot. And I was rude. I should have just—"

"No," he interrupted. "You should not have. You were not in the wrong yesterday, Felicity." He snorted. "The reason I was in here making breakfast for you was to make up for yesterday."

I shook my head. "All you did was take me to a friend's house for dinner. Not your fault I acted like a complete turd."

He laughed. "A turd, huh?"

"Paul," I said, trying not to laugh—because, okay, using the word _turd_ was kind of funny. "I was so rude. I was a guest in their house and didn't act nice to their friend."

He laughed even harder. "Trust me, _Bella Swan_ is not their friend. She's more of a...forced acquaintance. And she's the one who was saying shit about _me_. I promise, no one there is going to be mad at you for taking my side."

I bit my lip. "I made a terrible impression."

"You actually made a fantastic impression. Sam and Emily are more than just friends—they're family. They probably think you're fucking awesome now."

"Whatever you say," I said as I flopped the last pancake on a plate and shut off my burner. "It's still not your fault, though."

He turned off his burner and started blotting the grease from the bacon strips. "We split making breakfast today, so how about we both agree that we're even. Neither of us did anything wrong and we both contributed to this meal. That's fair."

"Alright."

"Great. Now let's go eat."

We got situated at the table, our food and milk and orange juice, and started eating. Now that we'd had our serious conversation while cooking, we made easy conversation while eating. At least, until he found out I was working for Valentine's Day next Friday.

Paul groaned. "Are you _trying_ to make me feel bad for you?"

My eyes rolled. "You are so dramatic. You're working, too!"

"But I'm not the one who just went through a shitty break-up." He popped his last bit of bacon into his mouth. "There's no reason for you to feel bad for me. Plus, I work with my friends."

My brows rose in surprise. "You do?" This was the first actual detail I was hearing about his mysterious job.

"I do," he confirmed. "So me going to work is basically just hanging out. You, however, have to actually do stuff. And you don't talk to anyone there."

"That's not true," I argued, even though it was totally true. I was pretty sure everyone else who worked at the grocery store hated me.

He tilted his head, clearly not believing me. "You should take off and do something fun. I'll take off, too! We can have a friends day. We're best buds, right, doll?" He waggled his eyebrows, as if that would make his offer more convincing.

"No," I said, standing and gathering the dishes.

"Oh, come on," he practically whined. "It would be fun. And it'd be a great excuse to not go into work." He followed me to the sink, grabbing a dishtowel on the way.

I washed a plate and then handed it to him to dry before responding. "What happened to work being a time to hang out with your friends? Now you don't want to go?"

He smiled. "It is, but I like you better. They're all assholes and smell like dogs." He laughed a little.

"No," I repeated. "I have work, and you have work. No reason to change that now." Extra hours were a _good_ thing, but I didn't want to say that to Paul—didn't want to make him feel bad for staying here without chipping in all that much. We were fine, especially with Elijah still helping with the bills, but I was trying to build up a nest egg for when I would be on my own. And I knew the time was coming—I needed to be ready.

Paul sighed. "If you're sure…"

"I'm sure," I said. "You're exceptionally whiny today."

"You're exceptionally difficult today," he fired back, but there wasn't any real heat to his voice. He was just trying to be a good friend. That was all he'd done since we'd met—tried to be a good friend.

So for the upteenth time since I'd met Paul Lahote, I thanked my lucky stars for my new friend. And hoped that I was returning even half of the value he was giving me.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

A few days after the incident at dinner, Bella and I were on the couch at my house. I'd barely seen her in the days since, due to a sudden schedule change—I needed to run patrols extra this past weekend in order to have time off this coming weekend. Because it was Valentine's Day.

And I had an imprint.

The fact still blew my mind, but it was also starting to warm my soul. Regardless of how things would work out, and we were nowhere near anything working out, there would always be another person in the world for me. A person that was _mine_. My other half.

All the imprinted wolves got time off for Valentine's Day, and all the wolves who weren't imprinted ran a little extra to be certain things were safe. Sam said it was to keep minds at ease while with our imprints, but I suspected it was to ensure he wouldn't get dragged away from Emily during their hard won alone time.

Originally, I'd been set in the rotation for the holiday weekend. But then I imprinted, so I get off. Even though I wasn't even friends with my imprint yet.

Besides, Paul had said she had to work. He'd tried to convince her to take off and spend time with him—which was odd since there was no way Sam would let him take off. Unless he planned to stick me in his place, but I didn't think Sam would go for that either. He wanted me to talk to her—to Felicity. To make things right after the mess that was dinner at his house.

Was there really anything to make right, though? Bella didn't actually mean harm. And she was just my friend. You didn't have to apologize for friends when they got a little defensive, right? Paul wasn't apologizing for Felicity, and I didn't think he should. So why should I?

I'd brought it up to Embry, but he'd only shook his head at me. I'd given up pondering the situation after that. It'd all work out somehow.

But now I was with Bella at my house watching some cooking show she liked and I didn't mind. We'd only exchanged pleasantries when she arrived, but I could tell she had something stirring in her mind to say. I waited for it.

After only a couple of minutes, she spoke. "That thing with Felicity was weird."

"Yeah," I said, because it kind of was...but it also wasn't. However, I could not explain how it wasn't, so it was better to agree.

She looked at me, face alight with curiosity. Before I'd imprinted, I might have thought that look was gorgeous. Now I only noticed that vaguely, and I didn't actually care much. Was this a permanent thing? Or would the effect of the imprint fade a bit with time? It would be hard to try to discover what could become of Bella and me this way.

Bella was staring at me, waiting for a response. Crap. Had she said something? "What?" I asked.

She frowned. "What happened with Felicity? Sam said she ran into you and whatever, but it was too weird to just be that. And you guys kept talking about that _printing_ thing. What did that even mean?"

"Bella," I sighed, not a clue in my mind about how to answer. "There are some things that it's best to leave alone, okay?"

Her eyes narrowed. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Not your place, Bella," I snapped, then immediately regretted it. She was curious; I didn't need to act like an asshole in response.

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and focusing on the TV. It was five minutes of me trying to figure out a way to apologize without explaining about imprinting, and failing, before she spoke again. "You want to hang out on Friday?"

I turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "Valentine's Day?"

She gave me a little smile. An olive branch. "Yeah. We can hang out. Bake cookies and brownies and stuff. Watch movies. Order some takeout. It'll be great."

My mind spun as I tentatively smiled back. Technically I had the day off—but it was supposed to be spent with my imprint. But my imprint had to work, so maybe… "Sure," I said, hoping I wasn't making the wrong decision. "Your house or mine?"

"Mine," she said easily, obviously pleased with our plans. "My kitchen is bigger. Better for baking."

I nodded. That made sense. Plus, maybe if I went into Forks on Friday, I wouldn't have to share that I wasn't going to be with my imprint. It was silly for them to expect me to spend time with her anyway. Did they want me to bother her at work? Hell, even if they did know I wasn't planning on spending Valentine's Day with Felicity, that reasoning alone should suffice. And Bella was my friend—

Someone stomping their way up my porch broke me out of my thoughts. I stood to head over and see who it was when a ganging began on the door, along with shouting.

" _How could you, Jacob Black?_ " Leah screamed. She continued, adding profanities now, but I ignored her, turning to Bella.

"Stay inside. She's angry." Then I went to the door and stepped outside, hoping Bella would actually listen for once. Leah clearly wasn't stable, a fact that became even clearer when I saw her fuming face. "What are you angry about this time?"

Her eyes narrowed, and I could just imagine the smoke coming from her ears. "Does the name _Felicity_ ring any bells?"

"Shit," I muttered, immediately moving away from the door and herding Leah with me.

"What are you doing—don't touch me!" Leah yelled.

When we were down my driveway and hopefully out of earshot of the house, I stopped. "Bella's here."

A malicious smile curved Leah's lips. "Oh, so you haven't told your little girlfriend about your _imprint_ yet, huh?"

I refused to let myself get angry. My hands weren't shaking. Leah was only being a bitch. She didn't deserve a reaction out of me. "She doesn't know about imprinting at all. Sam doesn't want her to know."

Leah smirked. "Good. The leechlover knows enough."

"Great," I said, "so you can keep the imprinting thing to yourself."

As if reminded of her fury, her fists curled back up. "Why the fuck would you imprint on her, Jacob? _Her_?"

I tilted my head, giving her an exasperated look. "You know as well as I do that we don't choose our imprints. It just happens."

"Deny her, then," Leah demanded.

"That's not how it works, either," I forced out through gritted teeth. She was really working my nerves now.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What happened to pack loyalty?"

"Yeah, Leah," I challenged, "what happened to it? I've imprinted and you come here not to congratulate me, but to scream at me. All because you don't particularly _like_ the girl I've imprinted on—even though she hasn't done a damn thing to you." I was really shaking now, and I tried to make my breathing steady.

She frowned. "Maybe if you'd told me when it happened instead of keeping it a big secret—"

" _It wasn't a secret!_ " I shouted. "If you didn't find out until today, then that's your own fault you have your head up your own ass. Go away and bitch to someone else, Leah, because I'm done fucking listening to it." I turned to walk back to the house—where Bella was of course waiting on the porch. Because why, oh why would she ever listen to me when I gave her advice for her own safety?

"Paul's closer to her than you are," Leah called out to me as I strode away.

"Not for long," I called back, not even turning around. Paul was a good friend to Felicity. I wouldn't begrudge that.

And Leah would have to get over it, because no matter how angry it made her—Felicity was _mine_.

* * *

 **What did you think? I'd love to know! Next update will be Thursday/Friday! (And I actually mean it this time - I'm free as a bird this week, so I shall WRITE!) Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll see you again in a few days! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, lovely people! I'm actually updating on time this week! Yay? Haha. A** **s always, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! We're over 70! This is the most I have ever gotten on a story before. Thank you all! I've replied to everyone individually, but please know that y'all are the best. And to everyone that favorited and followed — thank you! We're over 100 follows! That's amazing! You guys seriously rock :)**

 **Now, for the chapter. This chapter's a...fun one. I hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 _Felicity's POV_

As the week progressed, Paul kept finding new ways to annoy me about working on Valentine's Day. He even tried to convince me to call in sick and take the day to myself. As if that was ever an appealing idea. So when the day rolled around, I hadn't budged even a little and went to work as planned.

I was only there for an hour when I started to regret not doing as Paul had urged.

Because Bella Swan walked in—with Jacob Black in tow.

Really, I shouldn't have been surprised. Lots of people were stopping in for last minute things for their Valentines. Whether it was flowers—which we were beginning to run low on and I was already dreading the moment when we ran out, for I would definitely have to deal with frustrated customers after that point—or chocolates—which we still had an abundance of, thank goodness—or whatever odds and ends people needed to make their plans go well, we were exceptionally busy. It only made sense that Bella Swan would stop by. She lived in Forks. There was only one grocery store in town.

And it only made sense that she would bring Jacob Black with her, too. Since he appeared to be her boyfriend...a fact that caused an emotion I refused to acknowledge to burn in my chest.

They walked in, arms brushing, and didn't even notice me. So I turned my focus back to the cash register and tried to act as normal as possible. I'd already acted like an idiot at dinner last week—and had been avoiding eye contact with Bella at school ever since. I didn't need to make things worse by embarrassing myself now, in front of an entire store of people.

About five minutes later, the second reason I regretted showing up to work walked in the door.

And marched straight up to me, slapping a small stack of papers down in front of me, ignoring the customer I was handing change to.

I gave the customer an apologetic smile and shoved the change into her hands before turning to face the newcomer—Leah Clearwater.

Now that _was_ surprising. I'd never talked to Leah Clearwater before in my life. I knew who she was—most people who lived in Forks and La Push did, thanks to her big drama with Sam however long ago. And I'd seen her around even before that. But we'd never been introduced, never had a conversation. So I had no clue in the world as to why she was in front of me right now glaring.

"Sign them," she ordered, her voice full of anger. What had I done? My mind tried to figure out what was going on, and I just stood there gaping at Leah. This apparently pissed her off even more because she leaned closer and barked, " _Sign them!_ "

That snapped me out of it and caused me to look down at what, exactly, she was so eager for me to sign. My eyes ran over the words once—twice. Nothing registered. I was in shock. What was even happening? I was at work...but Leah was here...and she wanted me to sign…

"Oh," I murmured, blinking in an attempt to clear my head. " _Oh_." I blinked some more, then started glancing around. Surely there was a pen somewhere…

Leah slammed one down on top of the sheaf of papers—the divorce papers that she wanted me to sign. To officially separate myself from Elijah. Because, if my reasoning skills were still up to par, _Leah Clearwater_ is the woman he left me for. "Hurry on up, little girl, I've got plans tonight." The smirk on her lips was outright cruel.

But I was feeling nothing. My stomach had dropped when I realized what the papers were and what was seriously happening here—right now, on Valentine's Day, while I was _at work_ —and my emotions had been stifled ever since. All I could do was blink and uncap the pen, signing my name at the places indicated. There were colorful sticky notes marking the places and everything. I guessed they were eager to get me out of the picture.

I'd just finished and set the pen back down when Jacob's voice broke through the fog smothering my brain. " _Leah?_ " he asked. "What the hell is going on?"

Leah rolled her eyes, collecting the paperwork and sliding the pen back into her pocket. "I want to have a proper holiday with my significant other, Jacob. This was the only way to make that happen. Not that it's any of your business."

I chanced a glance in Jacob's direction and saw that he looked _furious_. Bella stood to his left, her gaze seemingly not knowing where to land—on me, Leah, or Jacob. Her jaw was practically hanging open. "Seriously?" Jacob said, sounding incredulous. "Here? Now? _Seriously?_ "

Leah shrugged. "It's done now. And I've got somewhere else to be." She faced me. "It'd probably be best if you gave him some space, now. If he needs anything from that ratty apartment, we'll contact you, okay? Don't bother _dropping off any boxes_ again." Her smile was smug. "Bye!" And then she turned on her heel and marched right back out the door, as if she hadn't just ruined my day and given me a metaphorical kick to the gut.

Jacob pushed the grocery basket he was carrying into Bella's hands and rushed after Leah, pausing only to tell me, "I'm sorry she's such a bitch." Oddly enough, he sounded sincere.

And that was that. I was divorced. My ex-husband had big plans with Leah Clearwater. And Jacob Black was...I had no idea. Why did I even include him in my mental checklist of today's mess? He'd only witnessed it all. An innocent bystander.

"Felicity?" someone said, tapping me on the shoulder.

Snapped out of my reverie, I turned to face the manager, Carl. Who'd apparently witnessed that trainwreck. Crap. "I am so sorry," I started.

Carl waved a hand nonchalantly. "That was the most drama this store has seen in years. So entertaining! But now it's over. Get back to work." He didn't even wait to see me follow his order before he turned and walked away.

But he'd given me something to do—something that could take my mind off the crapshow I'd just starred in, if only for a little while. So I got back to work, ringing up candy and flowers and other things for people to take and enjoy with their loved ones. I refused to let myself dwell on the fact that my former loved one was now enjoying time with his new loved one. Or that I was here, standing at a stupid cash register, instead of out with someone I cared about.

I should have taken up Paul on his offer.

When Bella got to the front of the line, she remained silent until I told her her total. Then she leveled her stare with mine. "Whatever you've got going on with him, stop," she said.

My brow furrowed. "What?"

She sighed. "With Jacob. He's the best person I have right now. He doesn't need you messing with his head and complicating things. Just leave him alone, okay?"

Where this was coming from, I could not fathom. I hadn't done a single thing to Jacob Black. Sure, he'd been on my mind quite a bit lately, but I hadn't shared that with anyone. Nor had I thrown it in his face or done anything to _complicate_ his life. Was she blaming me for him running out after Leah today? I didn't tell him to do that. This whole thing was so perplexing. But I was at work and there was still a line behind Bella, so I said, "Whatever you say."

She smiled, and it was the most arrogant expression I'd ever seen on the girl's face. "Great." She handed me some money. "Keep the change."

She left right away and I continued working, but my mind kept spinning in circles. Today was very, very odd.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

When I arrived at Bella's house on Valentine's Day, I expected her to be ready to start baking and doing all the stuff she'd wanted to do. Instead, I showed up to her waiting on her porch. She popped right up to her feet when she saw me, gesturing for me to join her in her truck. "We need to go buy ingredients," she explained.

I held back a groan, wanting nothing more than to stay at her house, relaxing on the couch. I'd gotten less sleep than desired the night before. Sam had heard I planned to hang with Bella today and decided that since I wasn't giving time to my imprint, I could run a few extra hours on patrol. I'd added an extra hour and a half on myself to get a solid layout around the duplex where Felicity lived. Paul was there all night, so I didn't actually have to worry for her safety, but she was _my_ imprint. It was only right that I checked out the area around her apartment.

But now I was seriously dragging and not in the mood for grocery shopping. I couldn't deny Bella, though. She was my friend. I couldn't let her down.

She explained what we were getting, but it all went in one ear and out the other. Baking wasn't my thing. I'd do what she told me to do when we got to it, but my skills were lacking otherwise.

At the grocery store, I didn't look around. The place was teeming with people scrambling for Valentine's Day supplies. I wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. So I grabbed a basket and followed Bella, trusting her to know where to go. We went down a few aisles grabbing things. Flour, chocolate chips, eggs, frosting, the list went on. Soon the basket was full and we were on our way to the checkout lines.

And what I saw there made my blood boil.

"Hurry on up, little girl. I've got plans tonight," Leah purred in the most petty tone I had ever heard her use—which was really saying something, considering Leah excelled at being a petty bitch.

But I didn't care about that. Leah could be however she wanted to be and I'd pick at her for it like usual. No, it was _who_ she was acting terrible _to_ that made me want to claw her eyes out.

Felicity was standing at a register, her expression absolutely blank as she signed some papers in front of her. She kept blinking, but her eyes held nothing. Her face held nothing. All that gave away anything about her was her rapid heartbeat. This must have been where she worked. How had I not noticed her when we got here? I'd know that magnificent scent anywhere. Shit—she'd probably seen Bella and me and jumped to conclusions. Another thing I'd have to fix—later.

Right now, I needed to figure out what the hell was wrong with Leah. " _Leah?_ " I asked in as normal a tone I could manage when I was so seriously fuming. "What the hell is going on?"

Leah the Bitch rolled her eyes, as if I was a mere insignificant disruption as she gathered the shit Felicity had signed. I had an inkling as to what they were, but I hoped I was wrong. Because if not...damn, I really hoped I was wrong. "I want to have a proper holiday with my significant other, Jacob. This was the only way to make that happen. Not that it's any of your business." Not my business? Not my business? Was she crazy?

I ground my teeth at the confirmation that I had been right—Leah had brought _divorce papers_ to Felicity while she was trying to work so she could sign them. Because Leah wanted to finally get intimate with Elijah. Un-fucking-believable. "Seriously?" I said, unable to keep myself from sounding just as stunned as I felt. I knew Leah could go low, but to stoop _this_ low? Wow. "Here? Now? _Seriously?_ "

Leah shrugged, because apparently she didn't care who she hurt in her crusade to get what she wanted—even if it was one of her packmate's imprints. "It's done now. And I've got somewhere else to be." She turned to face Felicity and I barely held myself back from lunging at Leah then and there. "It'd probably be best if you gave him some space, now. If he needs anything from that ratty apartment, we'll contact you, okay? Don't bother _dropping off any boxes_ again." She gave a smug smile. I breathed deep in an effort to control my trembling. "Bye!" Then Leah turned and strode out the door, as if she hadn't just fucking wrecked my imprint.

Before I could even consider the consequences, I was handing the grocery basket to Bella and following Leah out the door. I paused for the barest second to say to Felicity, "I'm sorry she's such a bitch," and then I was back to chasing after Leah. I truly was sorry. Felicity didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of Leah's bad moods. It wasn't her fault she'd married the guy Leah was bound to imprint on. And it wasn't her fault _I'd_ imprinted on her. She was in a constant state of havoc thanks to this damn wolf business.

And she didn't even _know_ about the wolf thing yet.

This imprinting thing was more complicated than I ever imagined.

But I'd figure it out along the way. Somehow. First step—getting Leah to leave my imprint alone.

Since I'd arrived at the store with Bella, I had to follow Leah's car in wolf form. The jog was welcome after the situation with Felicity.

 _What situation with Felicity?_ Paul demanded, sounding worried. I never thought I'd see the day where he was actually good friends with the opposite sex, but he was seriously devoted to his friendship with Felicity. _Focus, asshole_ — _what happened to Felicity? Is she hurt?_

 _She's fine physically,_ I told him, refraining from rolling my eyes or giving him more of a hard time. I could relate to being worried about Felicity's wellbeing. Who would have ever thought that I'd have something so important in common with Paul? _Leah just...well, she showed up at the grocery store today_ — _that's where Felicity works_ —

 _I know, douchebag. I actually talk to her. Unlike you. You went there with the leechlover, didn't you? Fucking asshole._

Now I did allow myself to roll my eyes. He was right that I could have known where she worked if I'd wanted to. But he was being dramatic. _Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not the point, though. Leah showed up at the Forks grocery store and made Felicity sign divorce papers from Elijah._

For a moment, the mindlink went completely silent. Even Quil's rambunctious thoughts, that he'd already been trying to tone down, went quiet. There was nothing.

And then Paul roared a string of profanities so impressive it'd have made a sailor shed tears of pride.

 _Is she still at work?_ he asked, near frantic now. _Alone? Shit._

I cringed. I hadn't given much thought to anything other than dealing with Leah. _Yes_.

He changed course immediately, running faster. _I'm going there. I'll hang out at the goddamn store if I have to._

 _Good,_ I said. _That's good._

 _You should talk to her sometime. She's actually pretty awesome._ He sounded begrudging, as if he wanted to keep her to himself. _Of course I do. You're hung up on Bella Swan. Felicity doesn't need you messing with her._

I knew he was right and that his words were coming from a nice place, but my wolf wasn't too fond of another man telling me what to do with my imprint—of another man having any claim over her at all when I barely knew her name. So I growled.

Luckily, instead of starting an argument, Paul just laughed. _You'll get over it_.

I hoped he was right.

He reached the grocery store and shifted into human form only a minute sooner than Leah pulled up to Sam's house. I shifted back, got dressed, and then followed her inside.

Sam and Emily were still home, and Elijah was in the kitchen with them. They were all laughing as we entered, but they stopped when they saw my face. Leah looked normal—a bit brighter than normal, actually. I, however, probably looked like I was about to punch someone in the fucking face.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, her tone diplomatic as she glanced between Leah and me.

Leah waved her hand casually. "Jacob's being an ass. Nothing new there. But I have something for _you_." She smiled at Elijah.

Eli grinned back. "I'm sure I'll love it."

"Oh, you will." Leah winked, then handed him the papers she'd carted inside. The same ones she'd forced Felicity to sign in a busy grocery store only half an hour earlier. My hands clenched into fists.

Elijah studied the papers, the smile on his face slowly drooping when he saw what they were. He gave an audible gasp when he got to Felicity's signature on the dotted line. His jaw clenched. "Leah…"

Leah was practically bouncing on her toes—was she delusional? Because he did not appear to be nearly as pleased with her gift as she seemed to think he was. "Isn't it great? Now you're free! We can finally be together."

He said nothing for nearly a whole minute. Just sat there, staring at those papers. Then he slammed them down on the table and looked up at Leah in fury. " _What have you done?_ "

Blinking in confusion, Leah frowned. "What?" she whispered.

Running a hand through his hair, Elijah shook his head. "I can't believe...what the fuck, Leah." He stood abruptly, still shaking his head. "I can't talk to you right now. I seriously can't." And then he left the room.

Leah stared after him. "I'm confused."

Sam and Emily were huddled over the papers on the table, their mouths set into lines. "You got Felicity to sign divorce papers?" Emily asked. "When did they even arrive?"

"Today," Leah answered, her voice quiet, uncertain. "I thought he'd like to be able to spend a proper Valentine's Day with me."

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. "So you took these to her without Elijah knowing and convinced her to sign them? That's messed up, Leah."

Sam's words snapped her out of her state of confusion. She stood up taller, a sneer taking over her face. "You don't get to judge me. And neither do you, Jacob Black."

I tilted my head. "I didn't even say anything."

"But you're here to tell me off. I'm not stupid."

"Well, you are being a raging bitch…" I shrugged.

Leah shook her head. "Just don't talk to me." And then she left the room, too, heading out the door. A minute later, a howl ripped through the night.

* * *

 **That was chapter seven! What do you think? I'd love to know! The next chapter should be up HOPEFULLY either Saturday or Sunday. Because Christmas! Until then, I'd love it if you left a review, if you wanted to? But no matter what, thank you so much for reading! I heart you! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, my friends! As my gift to you this year, I'm posting this update early! I have a couple of things to say about it, but first: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed. I know I say this a lot, but that's because I seriously MEAN IT - your support constantly blows me away and means the world to me. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people as readers. Thank you all so very much! (Oh, and I've replied to everyone who reviewed, unless you were a guest. If you're a guest - please know that I heart you!)**

 **Now, for this chapter. It's written differently than the others. After reading the feedback y'all left for the last chapter, it was kind of obvious that it was time to give some more insight into Leah. A lot of you hate her (understandable) and some of you think she's getting a little too bitchy (also understandable). But no matter what, there is definitely more to Leah than we've seen. So this chapter starts out in Leah's POV. This gives a glimpse into Leah's brain and also a...discussion with Elijah that some of you have been hoping for. Then we go to Jacob, then Felicity. Next chapter should go back to normal format, and I'm not sure I'll write Leah's POV again in this story at all, but it was definitely called for here, and I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

 _Leah's POV_

All I'd wanted was to have a good, proper Valentine's Day with my imprint. And yet, everyone was angry at me for the efforts I went to in order to make it happen. So what if I brought the divorce papers to Eli's ex and asked her to sign them at work? He was going to divorce her anyway, right? So I just sped up the process. I didn't understand what was the big effing deal.

 _He probably wanted to take them to her himself, Lee_ , Seth whispered in my mind. It had been him and Quil running when I phased, and Quil had jumped out of this mindlink and into human form so fast, I'd have been insulted if he wasn't such an idiot. Now it was just Seth and me, running the route around La Push—because apparently Paul had gone to see if the precious Felicity was alright. Why did everyone fawn over her so much?

I pushed myself to run faster, growling a little in frustration.

 _She's Paul's friend_ , Seth said. _And Jacob's imprint. We always take care of imprints._

My eyes narrowed. _But what about MY imprint? No one seems to care about that!_

Seth was quiet for a moment as he tried to make sense of what I'd said. What was so confusing about it? The man I'd imprinted on was married to another woman. All I wanted to do was be able to claim him for myself, but he wouldn't let that happen until he was unattached from _her_. It wasn't out of place for me to hold hostility toward the situation.

 _Yeah, but you've been kind of taking it to extremes, Lee. And your imprint is fine. Anyone can see that Elijah is devoted to_ you _now. You have nothing to worry about._

I shook my head, pushing myself ever faster. _But he still cares, Seth. That's what no one understands. He still worries about her. He still wants to take care of her. He's supposed to feel that way about ME._ I was starting to sound pathetic and I hated it, so I stopped talking. Let little peacemaker Seth figure it out from there.

 _But he does, Leah. He left her for you. Sure, he still cares and wants to mend fences enough to be friends with her at some point. But at the end of the day, he's with you. And you're kind of throwing that all in his face by acting like it's not good enough. He's trying. This is all new to him. And you're being...well, not cool, Leah._ Seth shut up then because he could surely tell my irritation was rising. If he were anyone but my brother, I might have bitten a chunk out of his hide.

Since he _was_ my brother, however, I thought over his words. Was I really hurting Eli by acting the way I have about Felicity? He hadn't shown much upset—until tonight, at least. I needed to talk to him so we could sort this all out.

 _I'm going back to Sam and Emily's_ , I told Seth. _You can call Quil back now._ The big baby.

Quil phased back in just as I was phasing out, thank goodness. I didn't want to hear him whine. I dressed and rushed into the house, ignoring the people still gathered in the kitchen on my way up the stairs. I decided not to knock on Eli's door and instead just barged right in.

He was pacing, his face still set in anger. He barely spared me a glance as I stepped into the room, easing the door closed behind me. He was seriously mad. Shit.

"We should talk…" I said without confidence. He'd never been this angry with me before.

"Yeah," he clipped out. "We really should. Sit down." He pointed at the desk chair.

I sat, fidgeting as I did. "Eli...I'm—"

"No," he interrupted. "It's my turn to talk. You've been going on and on for a while now, and I've let you. But now you've done something to deliberately hurt Felicity." He halted his pacing and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "I know it sucks for you to know this, but I was going to be with Felicity forever. We're young, but I married her with the intention of spending the rest of my life with her. We could have waited, stayed together or even engaged for a while, but her parents...Leah, her parents are _terrible_. And I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her anyway, so I convinced her to marry me. _I_ convinced _her_."

It really, really fucking hurt to hear him say this. To see the emotion in his face. Not only did he still care, but he cared _a lot_.

"And then I met you. I don't regret that even a little, so get that look off your face, Leah. You know I love you more than anything." He stared at me, waiting for me to meet his eyes. I didn't want to, but I guessed I owed him at least that right now. His lips quirked up at one corner when we locked gazes. "We were in it for the long haul, me and Felicity. The only thing that could have taken me from that is you, Leah. You. And I'm here with you now. I'm not leaving. I _need_ you to have confidence in that."

"I do," I said weakly. It was a lie and we both knew it.

Eli sighed. "I understand that you were with Sam and happy and then he was taken away from you. But there is no way in the world _I_ can get taken from you. I'm yours. And you're mine. Don't you see that?"

I nodded because I did. It was just hard because when Sam imprinted on Emily, he was devoted from the beginning. Sure, Emily put up a fight, but it didn't take them too long to settle, even with their...incident. But Elijah and me...we imprinted and he took an entire week to even leave his wife. To tell her he had found someone else. And then all through our relationship—if you could even call it that, since we did nothing relationship-like out of respect to his ex—he worried and worried about Felicity. It hurt when the guy you'd suddenly fallen in love with was so devoted to someone else.

But apparently he'd been most devoted to me all along. He didn't see things how I saw them. And maybe he wasn't the one doing something wrong—I was, because I sucked at communication.

Now would be as good a time as any to fix that. So I told him what was on my mind. How he seemed more devoted to taking care of his precious Felicity than being with me. He listened through it all, not interrupting me or doing anything to discourage my sharing.

When I was done, he nodded. "If you had told me that before, I could have explained before. Then we could have avoided this whole mess. I should probably finish what I was saying before. Where was I?"

Pursing my lips, I said, "You convinced her to marry you."

"Right. I did. And we'd only been married for a few months but we'd been happy when I met you. But then—everything changed. I wasn't content with her anymore. I needed you. So I broke up with her and came here because it was _you_ I needed. It's still you that I need, always. But, Leah, that didn't make me magically stop caring about City and her wellbeing. I still love her. It's just different now. So, so different. I want her to be okay. I want to hopefully be friends with her someday, when she can handle it. I'm in love with you, but that doesn't mean we're in a vacuum, that my emotions are isolated."

I was frowning and he was rubbing his chin. We'd been on the same page for a hot second, but now we seemed to have lost it again.

Then he said, "It's like...you still love your brother, right? And your family? And the pack, even though it'd probably be like teeth to get you to admit it out loud?" I nodded hesitantly. "Right. Well, City is my family. Before she was my wife, but now she's different. It'd probably be weird to call her a sister, but you get my point, right?"

Oddly enough, I kind of did. And I wished we'd had this conversation earlier, before I fucked up so spectacularly. "I messed up."

Eli's face set in frustration. "Yeah, you did. I wanted to see her myself—to talk to her about the papers. To explain the agreement and tell her some of what I told you. That I care about her like family, and that if she's ever comfortable enough to be friends, I'd fucking love that. But you...you blindsided her. Do you understand how fucking bitchy that was?"

Biting my lip, I nodded. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Well, that's something, at least." Plopping down on the bed, he rested his face in his hands. "I know you can be a bitch sometimes...or a lot of the time. And I don't care about that. Be rude to Jacob and your other packmates. Glare at the girl at the gas station because you think she's going to try to flirt with me. But when it comes to someone so important to me, I was hoping you'd have a little more care."

"I mean, in my defense, I've never been nice about her." It was a crappy argument and I knew it.

Eli knew it too, and his _come on_ expression when he lifted his head to look at me said so. "None of that was _to her_ , though. I was hoping that you'd act better when it came time for you to actually meet—which was not supposed to be yesterday when you _blindsided her with divorce papers!_ " His statement ended in a shout.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"I know," he said, panting.

"Paul's with her now, if that makes you feel any better." Eli's eyes narrowed. "And I think I may know a way to make her day a little better…" Eli didn't know about Jacob imprinting on Felicity yet, and I wasn't sure if right now was the time to tell him. But I'd learned my lesson about not communicating with my imprint. "Okay, so I have a bit of news for you, and I need you to stay calm when I tell you."

Eli's brows rose in suspicion. "Oh?"

Shifting nervously, I nodded. "Yeah. So. Um. Jacob kind of...Jacob imprinted on Felicity."

Eli went completely still. I didn't even think he breathed. Then he jumped up and ran out the door.

Sighing, I followed after him. This day just kept getting shittier.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

While we could have easily heard Leah and Elijah's entire conversation, Sam and I had made small talk to give them some privacy. So when Eli rushed down the stairs, into the kitchen, and stood _right in front of my face_ , I was confused.

"Is it true?" he demanded, his face set with intensity.

Leaning away from him, I asked, "What?" There was really only one thing this could be about, but I didn't want to give it away until I was sure I wasn't wrong. No reason to open two cans of worms when only dealing with one was much more preferable.

"Did you imprint on City?" The way the guy was looking at me, I wasn't sure whether he wanted it to be true or false.

Either way, it was about time Leah told him. We weren't big on secret keeping in the pack, and it'd been enough of an annoyance to hide things from Bella. It'd be nice to not have to tip-toe around Elijah, too.

"Answer him already, asshole," Leah snarled, walking into the room. Apparently she was back to her grumpy self. Great.

"Yes," I told Eli. "I imprinted on Felicity."

At my answer, the guy seemed to deflate. A minute ago, he'd seemed like he was considering punching me in the face. Now he practically collapsed into a chair. "Does she know everything yet? How did she react? Is she okay? Is she scared? Shit, man, please tell me you've been treating her right."

Leah snorted, taking a seat beside him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "Jacob has done literally nothing yet."

"That's not true," I lied.

"Oh, sorry," Leah said sharply. "He's run into her in a hallway, freaked her out, and made Felicity think he's Bella Swan's boyfriend."

With that, Elijah was back on his feet. Since I was sitting, he towered over me. "You did _what?_ "

I shrugged. "Which part of that are you angry about, exactly?"

He narrowed his eyes. If he were a wolf, he'd have been snarling. "You've freaked her out and made her think you're Bella Swan's boyfriend? Do you know how shitty that is for someone on this side of the bond?"

His points weren't bad, but I was having another case of not wanting another man to tell me how to deal with my imprint. She was _mine_ —mine to take care of, mine to worry about. "You don't really know what it's like either, bud. So stop acting like you do and chill out."

Leah laughed. "That's the worst argument ever, Jacob. Try again."

"Go to hell, Leah."

"Hey—" Elijah started, but Sam cut him off before a real confrontation could begin.

"That's enough," Sam said, facing Eli. "Yes, Jacob imprinted with Felicity and has been handling it terribly. He'll fix it." He turned to me. "You. Go fix it."

"Yeah." I nodded. "I'll fix it—wait, what? _Now?_ " I asked, processing everything Sam had just said.

He smiled. "No time like the present."

I blinked. "But...she's at work. And Paul's with her."

Emily glanced at the clock. "Actually, she got off work ten minutes ago. And good. Paul will make sure you're nice to her."

I was still blinking, unsure. "But...I need to talk to Bella. I ditched her at the grocery store today. We had plans." The full weight of what I'd done hit me. "Shit! I seriously ditched her."

Leah yawned. "Don't care."

Eli shrugged. "I kind of agree. I mean, fix things with Bella or City? City wins every time."

Okay, he was seriously starting to piss me off. He was way too familiar with her—spouting that _City_ nonsense. "Shut the fuck up."

Sam sighed. "Don't get angry at him because you have no relationship with your imprint yet. _Go to her apartment and talk to her._ It's not that hard."

"And if you're still upset about the Bella thing, you can talk to her tomorrow," Emily added.

It wasn't as surprising as it should have been that everyone was siding with Felicity. Bella had never been a pack favorite. Plus, imprints came first— _always_. At that realization, I literally smacked myself on the forehead. "I'm an idiot."

Leah snorted. "Yeah, we know."

"Didn't I tell you to _shut up?_ "

She rolled her eyes, the threat in my voice lost on her completely. "Just go talk to your imprint. Maybe it'll make you less moody."

I huffed out a breath, turning toward the door. "Whatever." I paused in the hallway, calling back to them, "Pretty sure the drama's over now, Sam. You and Emily should probably get out of here and make the best of your Valentine's Day while there's still time. Or before something else happens."

"Yeah," Sam said, right behind me with Emily's hand in his. "We're right behind you."

I laughed as we parted ways. At least someone was going to have a good holiday.

* * *

 _Felicity's POV_

Soon after Bella left, Paul showed up at the grocery store. He grabbed a piece of candy and hopped in my line. When he made it to the front, he drew out the transaction as long as possible, counting his change slowly while taking peeks at me.

"I'm fine," I said, though I wasn't quite sure that was true.

"Right." He nodded, though he didn't look like he believed me.

"You can leave," I told him as I handed him his receipt.

He snorted. "I'm here for the rest of your shift, doll."

And then he seriously stuck around. He made jokes with the more outgoing customers, and even made a couple of children laugh by juggling packages of gum, which was sweet. This lasted until Carl came back around and noticed Paul loitering—at which point Paul grabbed the item nearest to him, a bottle of soda, and made his way through my line again.

Thus began a pattern of Paul chatting and goofing around until Carl walked by and gave him an eye that said _either buy something or get out_. Then Paul would grab something random and get back in my line.

I tried to act embarrassed, but in reality it was the nicest thing any friend had ever done for me.

By the time my shift was over, I was in high spirits. It was a complete one-eighty from how I'd felt after the encounters with Leah and Bella, and I was so grateful for Paul.

Would there ever be a day when I wasn't grateful that Paul was my friend? I kind of doubted it.

"You need a ride?" I asked as we walked through the parking lot.

"Hell yes," he answered, sliding into the passenger's seat before I'd even opened my door.

During the ride home, Paul was thankfully quiet. He'd brightened my mood, and though I knew he was dying to talk about what had happened before he'd shown up at the store, I didn't want to sour it again.

But once we'd settled into the living room at the apartment, sandwiches in our hands and a bag of chips in between us, Paul broached the subject. "You know, Leah likes to be a bitch just to be a bitch. Don't take it to heart."

"Okay," I said, wanting this conversation to be over.

"And I have this feeling that Bella Swan is the same way, but more subtly."

Now that one was surprising. I turned to face him. "What are you talking about?"

He lifted a brow. "I know Jacob and Bella were at the store. And I know Jacob left on Leah's heels. Which left Bella there alone. I don't know Bella Swan very well, and I don't care to even a little, but I'd bet anything that she said something bitchy."

I was practically gaping at him. "Wow."

He smiled. "Am I right?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just overreacting."

"I doubt that. What did she say?" He took a bite of his sandwich.

Instead of taking a bite of mine, I picked at the crust. "I don't actually want to talk about it." I'd rather have forgotten about it completely.

He nodded, swallowing his food. "Yeah, you're definitely not overreacting."

A smile tugged at my lips. "You know that by me not telling you what she said?"

"Yes. If you were overreacting, you'd be dramatic about it. But you're keeping your mouth shut—even though you should really share what she said with me…"

I shook my head, taking a bite of my sandwich this time. My bite was less than half the size of his. Ridiculous.

He bumped my shoulder with his. "Aw, come on. Sharing is caring, doll."

"Ha," I laughed a little. "No."

"Friends tell friends what jealous bitches say to them." Paul waggled his eyebrows in an attempt to be enticing.

I giggled. "Sorry, but no. Maybe later."

"Now that's just teasing!" he whined.

I didn't get a chance to respond around my laughter before a knock sounded on the door. I moved to stand, but Paul waved at me to stay seated. "Finish your sandwich. I'll get it."

He disappeared into the little entryway hall. I heard the door opening, and then—quiet, mumbled words. Two voices...two men.

Oh, dear lord. Please tell me Elijah did not show up to chat about the divorce papers and his new girlfriend. I so could not deal with that today.

But it wasn't Elijah who followed Paul into the room a moment later.

It was Jacob Black.

* * *

 **What did you think? Hopefully it answered some questions? Please let me know! Your feedback is so valuable to me, so I'd love it if you left a review! Next update should be up Thursday/Friday. Until then, I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, lovely people! I heart you all! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, lovely people! I hope you had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! I'm sorry I'm late on posting this. With every story I write, I hit a point (usually between 8-11 chapters in) where I have to stop and make sure I know where the story is going. I figure out what's happening next and how the story will end and ways to get there. Which means that this story is now fully plotted out! I just have to, you know, WRITE THE CHAPTERS. But I can say that this story will be roughly 18 chapters - give or take a couple depending on wordage and the dynamics of how things look on the page. That means we're halfway through the story! Ahhhh!**

 **Also, we hit 100 reviews! Y'ALL. That is AMAZING! I can't thank you enough. Your feedback and support means the world to me. I've replied to everyone who left a review with an account. If you left a guest review, please know that I adore you! And everyone who has been following and favoriting - you rock my socks, friends! THANK YOU!**

 **Okay, now for the overdue chapter nine - I hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

 _Felicity's POV_

Jacob stood in the doorway. He shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. Paul shrugged, trying to make this situation much more casual than it actually was. "Surprise visitor."

I nodded as I rose to my feet. "Okay, I'll just...go…" I shoved the rest of my sandwich in my mouth, leaving the bag of chips on the couch for Paul and Jacob to have as they...hung out? Whatever it was they planned to do.

Paul snorted. "He's here for you, doll. Sit back down."

Freezing in place, I stared at him, my eyes wide. Once I swallowed the food in my mouth, I asked, "What?"

"I was hoping we could talk?" Jacob said uncertainly.

Paul walked over and stood in front of me. "Take a seat. Let him talk. It'll be fine." His hands landed on my shoulders as he pushed me back down to the couch. "And I'll take these. Have fun, kids!" He snatched up the bag of chips, then strode out of the room—leaving me alone with Jacob Black.

Oh dear.

The room was silent. We weren't even making eye contact, but I could sense him peeking over at me every few seconds. He made no move to come closer.

"So…" he started. But he didn't finish.

And then it was silent again.

I wanted to speak up and at least some kind of smalltalk started, but I couldn't think of anything good to say. So we said nothing.

Until Jacob broke the silence again. "So we should probably talk."

Yeah, that'd probably work better than our current predicament of avoiding eye contact and keeping our mouths closed. "Okay," I said. "Do you want to sit down?" I gestured to the rest of the empty armchair.

He nodded, and moved to sit on the empty seat on the couch next to me, as opposed to the chair I'd pointed him toward. I couldn't think of a polite way to ask him why he'd chosen that spot, plus I kind of liked him closer to me, so I didn't comment on it.

"Bella's not my girlfriend," he blurted, watching my reaction.

I blinked. Why would he feel the need to tell me that? And if he was telling the truth, then why had Bella warned me away from him earlier? "I'm confused," I admitted, then slapped a hand over my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that _aloud_.

Jacob lifted a hand to rub his chin. "Alright. What's confusing? Maybe I can help."

Right, like I could just lay out everything going on in my head for him. None of this made sense. I barely knew the guy and now here he was, making it my business who he was dating and trying to help me unravel the confusion that resulted from it. "Probably not a good idea."

"Sure it is." He smiled. "I want to be friends. And honesty is the best policy in friendships, yeah?"

My mouth opened—then it closed. Nothing was adding up. This entire day was unbelievable. First, I got served divorce papers at work. Then I got told off by wimpy Bella Swan. Now here was Jacob freaking Black sitting on my couch telling me he and Bella Swan weren't an item and he wanted to be buddies.

What the fuck?

"You make no sense," I said, getting a little angry now. Should I really have been angry at him, though? I wasn't sure about anything at that point.

He frowned. "I'm sorry?"

I sighed. "Okay, great. So you and Bella aren't a couple. You're just...what? Friends with benefits?" Now that was an explanation that would have made sense. At least it would have explained why she was so worried I'd mess up whatever she had going with Jacob.

His eyes widened. "No! No, no, not at all. We're friends. _Just_ friends. Nothing extra or whatever. No benefits."

A laugh escaped me, sounding eerily close to a scoff. "That's funny. Because whenever I see you, she's basically attached to your hip."

Jacob winced. Had I struck a nerve? Interesting. "It's not what you think. At all."

I rose my brows. "Oh, so you're not romantically involved with—or at the very least romantically interested in—her?"

He started shaking his head before I was even done speaking. "No romantic involvement or any of…" He paused. "I admit, I used to want to date Bella. I had a crush on her. But that's over now. We're definitely just regular friends." He said it like he was only coming to that realization as he spoke.

How would he feel if I told him what Bella had said to me earlier? "You know she's territorial over you, right?"

He frowned, his head tipping to the side a little. The expression was almost cute—you know, if I hadn't been so annoyed with the entire conversation. "Um, no. She's never been that way."

"Yes, she is."

His eyes narrowed. "Did she say something to you? Is that why you're upset right now?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. This whole thing was so _ridiculous_. "Everything isn't about you, Jacob Black. I had a shitty day. I got officially divorced today. Your _just friend_ told me to stay away from you—because you're _hers_." My voice broke on the last word, only serving to make me more furious as I continued. "And now you're here, where I live, making no fucking sense. So, yeah. I'm mad because she said something to me. But I'm also pretty pissed because my day has been a load of _garbage_ , and you're not helping matters!"

Panting, I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. I'd said much more than I probably should have, but I needed to let it out. Bottling up my aggression wasn't going to help anyone. And it was about time I spoke up about something...even if everything going on with me wasn't exactly Jacob's fault.

He sat there, his eyes shifting from me to the floor and back again. He almost looked like a kicked puppy—which _almost_ made me feel bad. "I'm not trying to make things worse," Jacob whispered.

"I know you're not trying to," I said softly.

"I'm sorry shit is so bad for you right now."

"Me too."

Running a hand down the side of his face, he nodded. "You're right. I shouldn't be here, loading more trouble on you. But I do want to be friends. Honestly."

Now it was my turn to frown because his voice and expression were both sincere. "I'm not exactly interested in hanging out with Bella Swan."

He smiled. "Then it's a good thing that there's twenty-four hours in a day and she doesn't own all of them, isn't it? Plus, she only has—" he stopped abruptly, going completely still for a moment.

I was about to ask what was wrong, but then Paul walked into the room. "Hey, Jake, we need to go."

Jacob stood. "Yeah. I'm coming." He turned to me. "We'll talk more about this later, if that's alright? I really, _really_ want us to be friends."

Paul snickered. " _Good_ friends."

Jacob cut him a look. "Shut up." He glanced back at me. "Okay?"

I was too off kilter by the situation that I just nodded. "Okay."

And then he and Paul were striding out the door, the sound of Paul locking it behind them echoing through the apartment that I was now alone inside.

What had just happened? Nothing made sense anymore.

* * *

 _Jacob's POV_

Of course. Of fucking _course_ I'd be in the middle of an important conversation with my imprint and then get called away for pack business. I walked away fuming as Paul stopped to lock the door, which I was vaguely grateful for—Felicity needed to stay safe.

Making it into the woods, I shed my clothes, internally cursing all the while. She thought Bella and I were more than friends. That shouldn't have bothered me so much, seeing as _I'd_ been uncertain about Bella. But now I was sure—Bella wasn't for me. And maybe Felicity wouldn't be for me either, maybe we'd remain friends, but I definitely knew that I didn't want Bella the way I used to. Not if it made Felicity get that look she had on her face earlier.

I wanted Felicity to be happy, and if me being with Bella hindered that, then Bella and I would never grow into more than friends. Ever.

Once my clothes were off, I shifted, Paul a moment behind me. Then we started running toward the rez—toward where the howl had come from. The pack mind was a mess, so I had no clue what was wrong.

Paul and I pushed ourselves a little faster. With all this chaos, something bad had to have happened.

 _No_ , Embry said, his voice somehow making its way into my head amidst the chatter. _Nothing bad, just_ —

 _SILENCE_ , Sam commanded, finally joining the fray of the pack mind. The mass of voices all talking over one another ceased as we all focused on what our alpha had to say.

All of us, that was, except for one confused pack member. I didn't recognize him.

 _We have a new brother_ , Sam stated the obvious. _Jake, Paul, and Jared. Come help me get him back to human form. Leah, Seth, and Embry, go run the patrol route. Quil, you can phase back. Make sure Emily knows there's a newbie coming and for there to be clothes placed for him._

No further instruction was needed. This was what happened when we got a new member—everyone pitched in to help out. Even Leah recognized this and ran to do her task without an ounce of argument.

Paul and I met Jared and Sam in a less dense area of the woods, the new wolf cowering between a tree and some bushes.

He growled at me, showing his teeth.

Okay, so not cowering. Just...hiding. Terribly.

He growled again, and this time a new voice spoke in my mind. _Shut the fuck up. This makes no sense! Why am I a wolf? What's going on?_

 _Well at least he recognizes that he's a wolf,_ Paul muttered. _That's a good sign. He's not a total idiot._

 _Shut up and explain this shit to me!_ The new guy stepped forward, apparently attempting to be threatening. None of us stepped back, and Paul started laughing. Or at least, he laughed in the pack mind. As a wolf, he released huffing sounds good enough for a story of the three little pigs.

 _Man, don't antagonize_ , Jared tried to play peacekeeper.

 _Listen_ , Sam said, giving his attention to the task at hand. _You've shifted into a wolf form. That means you have special blood of our Quileute ancestors. It means you're a protector of our people._

New Guy stepped back again, doing that not-cowering thing by the bush. _I don't know anything about any of this. You've got the wrong guy_

Okay, I couldn't help it. I snorted. It sounded like an uncomfortable wheeze, but that was funny. _There's no way to get the wrong guy. If you shift, you're it._

 _Shit shit shit shit_ , he began muttering.

 _Quiet,_ Sam ordered him. _Take some deep breaths. Then think of the most human thing you can. Sitting at a dinner table. Driving a car. Using your thumbs. I don't care what it is, just calm down and start focusing real hard._

The new dude was clearly out of ways to snap at us because he actually did what Sam said. He focused on his breathing, evening it out as best he could. Then he thought about...his parents? Talking to his parents, I guessed. It was always so interesting to see what each person thought of at first to gain back their human form—once you're used to shifting you don't have to work so hard to change forms, it becomes effortless—but something about this guy's nagged at my brain.

Before I could focus too hard on it, he was out of the pack mind and curled up on the ground as a human. Averting my eyes, I shifted back to human form as well, the rest of the guys assigned to helping out here doing the same.

"That was good," Jared said. "You did that pretty quick."

The guys moved to his feet, shaking slightly. "I don't know who long I'll be able to stay like this."

"Just breathe," Sam told him. "Don't worry about anything except remaining calm. You are okay. Nothing is wrong. There's no reason to freak out. The longer you remain in human form, the quicker you'll get all the answers and things will make sense."

He blew out a slow, trembling breath, nodding. "Fine. Shit. Okay." Another breath. "So what now?"

Sam leaned toward him, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Now we go to my house, which you _will not_ shift inside of. You lose it, you need to turn wolf, you bolt your ass outside and do it there. You don't ruin my house, and you _do not_ hard my Emily. Understand?"

New Guy practically ground his teeth in frustration but agreed. "Understood."

"Great. Let's go."

We walked toward Sam and Emily's place, stopping far enough away that the trees still supplied enough coverage to not be seen from the house. We showed him one of the hiding places for clothes, promising to show him the others soon. Quil had clearly done his job, because there was more pieces of clothing there than usual.

Once we were dressed, we made our way out of the woods and into the house where Emily had clearly baked something because the house smelled fantastic. My mouth watered as I moved directly toward the kitchen.

" _You_ ," Eli sneered, stopping in his tracks a few feet from Leah, who he'd been on his way to greet.

New Guy halted in the doorway, locking glares with Eli. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here?"

"You're the one who's supposed to be away," Eli said, his tone colder than I'd ever heard it. Even when he was pissed about me imprinting on Felicity, he hadn't sounded this furious. "You know, away where you can't do a damn thing to help your sister even though you _know_ —"

Rolling his head back, New Guy scoffed. "Oh, shut up. She's fine."

"You're an asshole."

"Hey!" Emily yelled, stepping around me to see what was going on. "What is wrong? How do you know him, Elijah?"

Eli barked out the weakest laugh, absolutely bereft of humor. " _He_ is Kai Creswell. Felicity's piece of shit stepbrother."

* * *

 **So, what do you think? Did you like Felicity's discussion with Jacob? What do you think of the new character? I'd love it if you left a review and shared your thoughts! The next chapter should be up Thursday/Friday, like normal. Until then, thank you all so much for reading! I heart you! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, my lovely friends! Again, I am so sorry this chapter is late. Writing can be hard. And sometimes, I get stuck. Which is what happened with this chapter. It's all worked out now (obviously, since it's finished and I'm posting it), and I also know EXACTLY how the next chapter is going to begin and where it's going so I've got momentum on my side now. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up to my regular schedule again - but even if I don't, please know that I am doing my best to get the chapter ready to post ASAP.**

 **In other news, Still Breathing has hit 200 followers! THANK YOU! Your support means the world to me, and I appreciate you reading my story more than I can say. This also goes to everyone who has favorited my story, and of course those of you who review! I've replied to all reviews that weren't left by guest - and if you're a guest, please know that I heart you! So yeah. THANK YOU ALL!**

 **Alright, A/N over. Now on to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

 _Jacob's POV_

"Wait, what?" I asked, completely floored by this new information. Felicity had a brother? A brother who clearly had Quileute blood? I'd imprinted on her. How did that even work?

"He said stepbrother," Emily offered, apparently trying to work the logistics herself.

New Guy—Kai—took a step back, a bit of trembling starting in his hands. "I don't know what's going on, but I haven't done a single thing to her. I haven't even seen Felicity since I got back. Why are you here, anyway?" He glanced at Leah, who was now clutching Eli's arm. "You stepping out on her? I warned her marrying you was a terrible idea. We all did."

Eli leaned forward, making his itch to punch Kai in the face even more obvious. "That's none of your business. You keep her name out of your fucking mouth!"

Leah moved her hands to his shoulders. "Elijah. Calm down."

His eyes met hers, softening the barest bit. "Trust me, he's a douche. I kind of feel sorry you guys will have to deal having him in your heads."

" _Enough_ ," Sam said. He shook his head in annoyance. "Let's move this conversation into the kitchen, where we can speak civilly. Cut it out with the curse words and name calling. We've got enough to deal with without infighting." And with that, he turned and strode toward the kitchen.

We all trickled in after him, Paul and Jared sticking close to Kai in case he lost his hold on serenity. His trembling seemed to have stopped completely, but with him being so new there was always change of a sudden mood swing. Some of us took chairs and others stood, but we all grabbed some of the food Emily had made. We'd have been crazy to let it go to waste.

Sam shoved two cookies into his mouth and swallowed before he said, "So he's Felicity's stepbrother. I'm assuming that means you two share no blood?"

Kai looked up from where he'd been focused on peeling the wrapped off a muffin. "I don't understand why she's so important." He cringed. "She doesn't do that weird thing, right? Tell me I won't have to hear her thoughts. That'd seriously suck."

Emily narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong with Felicity? She's so sweet."

Kai smirked. "You don't know her very well, do you?"

"He's self-centered," Eli broke into their exchange, which was good because New Guy was really starting to work my nerves. "Was an only child until his mom married Felicity's dad. He's been bitter about it ever since and takes it out on City by making her feel like shi—trash."

Kai's hand dropped heavily to the table. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Right," Eli snorted. "I was only married to her."

"Not relevant," Sam said. "One thing at a time. First, explain the relation."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Felicity's mom died when she was six, her dad married my mom when we were eight, and then to make us a big happy family they changed my last name, too." He paused. "We've never discussed it in depth, because my mom hates talking about it, but I'm pretty sure my dad was Quileute. He didn't stick around, though, so I'm not certain."

"Another Uley baby?" Jared asked the room at large.

Paul ran a hand down his face, sighing. "Either that or my drunk of a father. He doesn't look anything like Sam."

Once Paul said it, the resemblance stuck out like a sore thumb. They had the same strong nose—though Paul's had a slight bump from breaking it. "Whoa."

"Not like it matters," Paul sneered. "If he's an asshole to Felicity, then we're pack brothers and nothing more."

Kai barked out a laugh. "I don't even know you or your father. We aren't family. And Felicity isn't family, either. It's really for the best that she moved out to shack up with dipshit over here. Though maybe not, if he's sleeping around."

"They broke up," I said, my tone hard. Everything about this was pissing me off—the way he kept negatively referring to my imprint, and how he spoke as if my imprint was still in a relationship with Elijah. He just needed to shut the fuck up.

"Well, isn't that—" Kai started.

"Shut up now," I warned.

Sam agreed, "Probably best you stopped talking, Kai."

"You'll learn the whole story at some point, I'm sure," Emily said, in an effort to ease the tension this conversation was causing.

"And it'd be in your best interest to keep your mouth closed about Felicity," Sam advised. "She's important."

"I should probably go see her tomorrow," Eli said, almost to himself. But of course we all heard him.

Paul laughed, his anger evaporating. "No, you really shouldn't. Need I remind you of what has transpired today? The last thing she wants to see is your dopey face."

Eli dropped his head back but didn't disagree. "I can't just not talk to her."

"Then give her a call," I said. "Tomorrow. And be sure to warn her that her brother's back in town. Something tells me she wouldn't want to be blindsided by that."

"No," Eli said, "she wouldn't."

* * *

The next day, I made sure to head over to Sam's bright and early in order to be around for when Eli called Felicity. I needed to pay her a visit, but I wanted to do it after she spoke with Elijah. That way, if she was upset I could hopefully help her through it.

I was in Emily's kitchen scarfing down some pancakes when Elijah entered the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me and smirked. "Really?"

"Emily's food is the best there is," I defended myself, even though we all knew why I was really there.

He nodded. "Right, right." Taking a seat, he snickered. "Wait until you try City's pie. She makes great pie."

I froze. My imprint could bake? She could make super good pie? Did I really hit that jackpot?

Emily saw my expression and laughed. "One step at a time, Jacob. First you probably want to be in the same room with her for more than ten minutes."

"Without making her uncomfortable," Sam added.

"Wow, you guys are real great help." I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

Eli rolled his eyes, taking the seat next to me. "I can call her right now if that'll make you feel better."

I quickly sat upright in my seat. "Yes."

He laughed but pulled out his phone. Waiting for her to answer was agony. I wasn't even the person who was going to talk to her, but I wanted to hear her voice—needed to hear her voice. It rang for so long, Elijah bit his lip, clearly thinking she wasn't going to answer. Not that anyone would have blamed her.

Then she answered. "Elijah? Seriously? Is something wrong?"

Eli released a long breath. "City. I...How are you?"

The line was silent for a second.

Then she spoke her mind. "You're joking, right? You send your new girlfriend to _my job_ so I'll sign divorce papers so you two can celebrate a _proper Valentine's Day_. And then you call me the next damn day and ask how I am? Please, Elijah, tell me that you are not serious."

Eli frowned, avoiding everyone's gazes as he stared at the table in front of him. "I didn't know she was going to do that," he whispered.

"Well, sorry if I have zero sympathy for you right now, Elijah, because yesterday fucking _sucked_. Thanks to your darling, _darling_ Miss Clearwater. Really, Eli, she's a gem."

His back straightened. "I get that she was a bitch to you, but could you tone it down?"

"Tone what down?" she asked innocently.

He clutched the phone tighter, his knuckles turning white. "The venom you're spewing. You're not helping anything."

Felicity released a bark of laughter, but there was no humor in the sound. "Whatever, Elijah. What-the-fuck-ever. Is there a reason you called?"

Eli sighed. "To apologize for Leah showing up at your work yesterday and dropping papers in front of you to sign. I'm seriously sorry, City."

"Great," she snapped. "Anything else?"

"Will you accept my apology?"

There was a pause and I could almost imagine Felicity rolling her eyes. Or running a hand through her hair. Or...what? I had no idea what she would be doing right now. I didn't know my imprint at all. I needed to fix that—soon.

"Fine, fine, fine," she huffed. "Apology accepted. Next?"

Eli's shoulders slumped in relief. Could he not tell that she'd just accepted the apology to placate him? "Thank you. Are you okay? I seriously want to know."

"I'm just peachy, Elijah. Your concern is so appreciated." She wasn't even attempting to mask her disdain for this conversation. Honestly, I was kind of proud of her. She didn't know the circumstances, but no matter what, the situation with her and Elijah had been fucked up. It was good she was holding her ground and standing up for herself.

Even if it made Eli look like a lost puppy. "Your brother's back," he said.

Felicity's irritated tone changed as she asked, "What?"

"Kai is back. I saw him last night on the rez."

The line went quiet. "Oh."

Eli waited a second before saying, "Are you alright?"

And Felicity waited a moment before answering softly, "Yeah. I'm fine." A pause. "Thanks for telling me. I guess I'll see you around." And then the line went dead.

"What was that?" I demanded.

Eli stuffed his phone into his pocket. "That was Felicity hearing that her brother's back in town."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Yeah, I got that. Now _explain._ "

He shrugged, resting his elbows on the table. "She never knows how to react. They used to be on good terms, a long time ago. They were never best friends, but they got along pretty well. Until they were around thirteen, then he completely changed. Was a complete asshole to her, all the time. My guess is his mother had something to do with it. She always hated City, for some reason."

I didn't know what to say. Mostly, I hoped Kai shifted gears and started acting right to Felicity because otherwise, we were going to have problems. She didn't have to be his favorite person, but he would show some fucking respect.

"Maybe now would be a good time to go see her," Emily said, nudging me with her elbow. "You left suddenly last night, didn't you? Show up today, be nice. Be a good friend. Invite her to spend time with you. That should lift her spirits some."

Though I wasn't so certain a visit from me would be exactly met with open arms, I knew that Emily was on the right track. I needed to go see Felicity. To talk to her, instead of continue to learn about her from outside sources. And I needed to take the first step and actually become her friend. I couldn't just say I wanted to be friends—I had to live up to it.

I nodded. "Alright. See you guys later."

And then I was out the door.

* * *

 _Felicity's POV_

What was worse than a phone call from Elijah the day after his girlfriend forced divorce papers on me at work?

Getting a call from Elijah the day after his girlfriend forced divorce papers on me at work _to tell me that Kai was back._

As if things weren't horrid enough. The last thing I needed was Kai showing up and tearing me down simply because he felt like it. And worse, I tended to let him because I was sitting, waiting, wishing for the day he'd suddenly revert back to how he was when we were kids—he was almost kind of sweet back then. He'd been a little standoffish, but he wasn't terrible to be around. I'd actually enjoyed his company.

Until he flipped his jerk switch and decided that his life would be much more fun if he made me feel like garbage.

Needless to say, I was not excited to see him again. I was more a mix of sad and angry and frustrated, and all I wanted to do was stomp around the house like a child.

But Paul had gotten home in the early hours of the morning—after working, presumably, since he'd been gone the entire night after he and Jacob got called away—and was still sleeping in his room. I was upset, but not upset enough that I'd be a terrible friend and wake Paul up when he needed rest.

So instead I silently fumed as I ate my small breakfast of toast and hoped I could avoid Kai for as long as possible, though I knew I'd have no choice in that matter. When Kai wanted to have a visit, he showed up whether I liked it or not.

A knock on the door came just as I was finishing washing my dishes, and I stiffened. Could he have chosen to come here already? I figured he'd have better things to do first…

Opening the door I, for the first time ever, had a positive emotion at a surprise arrival from one Jacob Black.

I was not annoyed or awkward or confused—no, I was actually relieved.

"Hey," he said quietly when I stood there saying nothing, too busy thanking my lucky stars that it was Jacob and not Kai standing there. "I was hoping we could finish our conversation from last night?"

I blinked. Our conversation… "Alright." I shrugged, moving aside and letting Jacob step past me. We seated ourselves in the living room in the same positions as last night. Sitting next to him felt so right yet so _odd_ at the same time. How could someone so new give me such strong feelings?

"So," he started, "I think we were at the part where you agree to be my friend?"

His expression was so eager, I couldn't help but smile—just a little. "And I think I was in the middle of protesting that your hip attachment, also known as Bella Swan, would not be too keen on that idea."

Jacob frowned. "Bella will be just fine. I don't understand why you think she—did she say something to you? You said she was possessive over me yesterday. What did she do to make you think that?"

I hadn't told Paul, because I didn't want to turn everything into a huge deal when it wasn't relevant, but should I share with Jacob? He seemed pretty clueless to Bella's actually feelings for him. Maybe I should help him along by clueing him in.

 _But I don't want to. I want him to stay clueless._

The realization made me pause. Then I spewed some word vomit. "At the grocery store yesterday, she went through my line and made sure to make it very clear that I needed to stay away. That you were not mine, you were hers. So, you know, if you want a chance with her, I bet you could totally...make something happen," I finished lamely.

Jacob seemed struck speechless. I didn't know what that meant. Was he happy? Or did he wish I hadn't told him and had just let him and Bella find their way to love on their own?

An unpleasant emotion was working its way through my stomach, up my throat. Into my bones. I tried to ignore it, because it made no sense, but I couldn't help the drooping of my shoulders as Jacob continued to say absolutely nothing.

But then he blinked. His mouth opened. Closed. And then he said, "I honestly don't care."

My eyes widened. The weight in my bones lifted the barest bit. "What?"

He smiled. "Bella's my friend, a good friend. We've known each other a while. But she has no claim on me and I definitely don't want her to. We hang out a lot right now because—well, reasons you'll understand in time. But the point is that it doesn't matter what she says." He scoffed. "I don't care if she doesn't want me to be your friend."

I took a deep breath, the unpleasant emotion all but evaporating. My reactions to him really needed to start making sense sometime soon. "Okay, then."

"Perfect—" he said, but then Paul ducked his head into the room, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh, _hello_ , you two. I see Jake's finally pulling his head out of his ass."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Go away."

"He basically lives here," I said. I knew Paul didn't need me to stick up for him, but I...kind of wanted to be in on the banter.

Paul laughed. "Yeah, man. I'm here almost all the time. I have seniority, so I don't have to _go away_."

Jacob released a sound that sounded eerily close to...a growl? "We're in the middle of a conversation."

"Lighten up, pretty boy." Paul leaned casually against the doorjamb.

Jacob appeared annoyed, which only served to make me giggle. Jacob was getting so worked up over nothing, since our conversation was basically over anyway, and Paul didn't care a smidge. It also didn't help that my mood was greatly improved after working things out with Jacob—because there was no end to my odd reactions to anything and everything Jacob.

Seeing my amusement, Jacob's lips twitched. "Paul's an ass."

"Yeah, but he's an ass who is also my best friend." I raised a brow.

Jacob huffed out a breath but before he could respond, my phone rang. The caller ID didn't show a number I was familiar with. Peeking over my shoulder, Jacob said, "That's Emily. I'll answer it."

And then he took the phone from my grasp and answered the call. If it weren't for the serious expression that immediately overtook his face, I would have been angry. But now I was glad he'd answered—this was obviously important.

He said little on our end other than "yeah" and "okay" and "soon." That was it before he hung up and turned to Paul. "We've got to go."

"What's wrong?" I asked, unable to hold it back. I hated to pry into their business, but I didn't like the look Jacob was sporting. I wanted to make it better.

Jacob's eyes widened as he looked at me. "Grab some shoes and a jacket and come with me. Please? I need you to go to Emily's."

On any normal day, I would have refused and demanded more answers. Right now, however, I didn't think it was a good time to ask questions. I'd have to save that for later.

I did what he asked, and the three of us shuffled out the door. Paul locked it much quicker than I ever could—I was very prone to fumbling with my key—and then we headed toward my car. I vaguely wondered how Jacob had gotten here today if he didn't drive. Did someone drop him off? Did he have the same unknown means of transportation as Paul? Something in my gut told me he did.

"Shit," Jacob cursed as we were climbing into the car. "I have to go somewhere else first. Paul, you make sure she gets to Em's, okay?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, lover boy."

Instead of responding to the nickname, Jacob met my eyes. "See you soon." And then he walked away. To where, I didn't see because Paul had pulled out of our parking spot and sped away. Why did I let him into the driver's seat?

"Do you know where he's going?" I asked even though the answer was obvious.

Paul snorted. "Yeah, but don't worry about it, doll. I can guarantee he'd rather be here with you."

Why he felt the need to reassure me of that, I didn't want to even try to figure out, so I didn't question it further. Instead we drove quickly and quietly to the now familiar home of Sam and Emily. Only then did it occur to me to worry that I'd see Elijah or Leah. Was Elijah even still staying here?

My steps were reluctant as I made my way into the house, but I went anyway. Someone had to be the bigger person here, right? Especially since there seemed to be some big emergency going on. If anyone was going to stir the pot, I wouldn't let it be me.

There seemed to be a crown in the kitchen—the main area of this home, apparently. If all of Paul's friends ate the way Paul did, I wasn't surprised. Sam and Emily were there, of course, along with Jared and a girl around my age I'd never seen before. Then there was, to my dismay, Elijah and Leah. But their expressions were solemn the way everyone else's in the room was, so I kept my mouth shut...even though I wished to give Leah Clearwater a piece of my mind.

I'd just have to save that for later.

At this rate, _later_ was going to be very interesting.

But I didn't have a whole lot of time to dwell on that because my eye caught on another person in the room, leaning against the counter by himself.

Kai.

* * *

 **And that's the chapter! What do you think? The next chapter should be up on Friday/Saturday (I'm shifting my days a little since school has started back up and I'm kind of setting myself up to fail if I try to update on Thursdays). Until then, I'd love it if you left me a review with your thoughts! Thank you all so much for reading! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, lovely people! I am so sorry it took so long for this next chapter to go up. Life and school and work and whatnot got busy so I had to put writing on the backburner for a little bit. But I'm off school for the summer and back to writing, so I'm BACK! And I'm here with a massive chapter, so yay! I hope y'all like it.**

 **But before you read it, I want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I lost my place in replying to reviews, and then just decided to focus on finishing this chapter because I figured that would make y'all happy. SO. I didn't reply to all the reviews from last chapter. I will reply to the ones on this chapter, though!**

 **So yeah. Thank you all so, so much for being here and supporting my story. You're the best! And I hope you like chapter eleven!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

 _Felicity_

I stood frozen, unsure what to do or say. Eli had told me Kai was back, but I hadn't expected to run into him quite yet. What were the odds that he was friends with Eli's new girlfriend, too?

Realizing I was standing there like an idiot, I made a snap decision on how to act—nonchalant. "Hey," I said, as if my mind wasn't in the midst of a freak out.

Kai rolled his eyes. As he opened his mouth to respond, Sam cautioned, "Don't be an asshole."

Kai's mouth snapped closed.

"Great," Paul said. "So what's the plan?" He was practically bouncing on his toes, though his expression was serious.

Sam's eyes shifted between Paul and me for a moment before asking, "Where is Jacob?"

Now it was Paul's turn to roll his eyes, grabbing my arm as he did and leading me to a chair since we were still standing in the doorway. I'd been to distracted by my stepbrother being here to walk further into the room. "Do you really need to ask?" was Paul's answer.

Apparently it was enough of a response because Sam just sighed, then moved on. "The plan is for Kai to stay here. Inside. Seth will stay outside, close."

Kai's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Why _what_?" Paul asked, clearly frustrated. What was going on that was so serious it had _Paul_ getting intense? He was one for laughs, with the slightly-less-than-often rise of temper.

Kai didn't even glance at Paul, instead directing his words to Sam. "Why do I have to stay here? Isn't whatever shit is going on more—"

"No," Sam cut him off, his tone firm.

"But—" Kai tried to argue.

" _No_ ," Sam said again, his firm voice now hinting at a growl. "There is nothing more important than your job. That's why you're not the only one doing it—Seth is, too. So stay here, inside, with the girls. Got it?"

I wanted so badly to ask what was going on. There was clearly a situation. The way Sam spoke, it was a situation that meant I needed...protection? Of some sort. It made no sense at all to me, and I needed someone to explain—but Sam was obviously one question away from flipping the f out, so I left it. For now.

Kai mumbled, "Sure."

With that weak agreement, Sam continued, "Seth will be here, outside. Make a circuit." He looked at the boy I assumed was Seth. The boy was tall. And on his way to built, though he certainly qualified as muscular right now. All that gave him away as a boy was his slightly rounded baby face. At the rate he seemed to be growing, I'd have bet he'd lose the roundness within a year, however.

Unlike Kai, Seth didn't argue. He simply nodded. "Okay."

"Everyone else—" Sam started.

But he was interrupted when the front door opened, causing all of us to turn our heads toward the kitchen entrance. No sooner did all our eyes make it their than none other than Bella Swan walked in.

With Jacob trailing right behind.

Of course.

Something twisted in my stomach, but I ignored the feeling. Jacob said he wanted to be my friend no matter what. That didn't mean he couldn't be friends with Bella, too. And really, I wouldn't be any better than her if I tried to dictate who else he spent time with. So I'd act cool.

Didn't mean I had to particularly like it.

"You're late," Sam said, his voice annoyed.

Jacob frowned. "Did the best I could, man."

"Right." Sam nodded. "Everyone except the girls, Kai, and Seth, let's go. No more time to waste."

Everyone who wasn't mentioned started moving toward the door. Except Jacob. He leaned down and said something quietly to Bella, their eyes locked.

That thing in my stomach gave another twist—and a stab for good measure.

Luckily I was distracted by Kai hesitantly saying, "Um, Sam? What about me?"

Sam paused just outside of the room. "Oh. Right. Stay here with the girls and Kai, too. But don't pick any fights." As if he'd just remembered something, his head whipped around to Kai. "And if you get _upset_ , take it outside. None of that shit in here."

"Yeah," Kai said, surprisingly without attitude.

And with that, Sam left. Jacob followed, apparently having finished talking to Bella. He didn't spare me a glance.

I wondered if Bella knew what was going on. I didn't want to speak with her at all, but if she had answers I needed…

"Hey, Bella," I called, trying to sound friendly even though she'd been a bitch to me. "Come sit." I gestured to the empty seat to my right.

Bella eyed the other empty seats at the table, clearly unsure of whether she wanted to accept my invitation.

I forced a slight smile onto my face, hopefully easing her worries at least a little.

She didn't appear very at ease, but after a moment she did sit in the chair to my right.

"So," I said, trying to sound casual, "how's it going?"

"Uh, fine." She fidgeted. Why was she so nervous?

I was about to ask her about it when Eli seated himself in the chair to my left. Though I wanted to ignore him, my attention was suddenly completely focused his way.

He noticed and said, "I've been worried about you."

My eye roll could not be contained. Not that I even tried to hold it back.

Elijah frowned. "I'm serious. You've been getting the short end of the stick a hell of a lot lately. And I know Leah didn't exactly help when she did...what she did."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "You've already apologized. It's done. Let's not talk about it."

"City…"

"Stop," I snapped.

Kai snorted from where he stood leaning against the counter.

"Do you have something to say?" Eli asked, turning to glare at Kai.

I sighed. "Don't argue with him, Elijah. Leave him be."

Eli's face whipped back around to me. "He's an asshole."

As if I wasn't aware. Did he forget that Kai was _my_ stepbrother? Or that it was mostly _me_ that Kai was a complete and total ass to?

I wanted to ask Elijah those questions out loud, but Bella dropped her hands on the table, bringing our attention to her. "You know what would be cool?" Bella asked. She didn't wait for a response before answering her own question. "Cliff-diving."

My eyebrows lifted. "Cliff-diving? Right now?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

I glanced at the window above the sink. "Looks like a storm's coming."

Bella scoffed. "We're in Forks, Felicity. When is there ever not a storm coming?" She had a point, but that didn't make her idea a good one.

"Maybe we should save it for some other time." And maybe she should ask people who weren't me to accompany her.

"City's right," Elijah said.

I stiffened, and Bella widened her eyes at me. "It'll be fun," she promised.

Maybe if I agreed and went with her, I could get her to tell me about whatever was going on. Uninterrupted by people like Elijah or Kai. And maybe if she saw how terrible the current likely was, she'd reconsider actually jumping and it'd get postponed. Two birds, one stone.

"You know what? Let's go." I pushed back my chair to stand.

Elijah tried to grab my hand, but I pulled away from his reach before he could touch me. "It's a crappy idea, City, and you know it."

"Not your business, Elijah." Bella and I started toward the door.

Eli stood. "I'll go with you."

"No," Bella and I said at the same time. Why she was opposed to him tagging along I did not know, but I wasn't going to question it.

Eli looked at Kai. "Aren't you supposed to make them stay here?"

Kai narrowed his eyes Elijah's way. "I was told to stay here with the girls and you. At no point did Sam say to tie them to fucking chairs and dictate what they do. I don't give a shit."

"They're about to jump off a cliff. Don't you think Sam would want you to stop that from happening?"

Kai shrugged. "I literally do not care."

My stepbrother, ladies and gentlemen.

"Later," I said, nudging Bella toward the door so we could get away from this mess of a conversation. Eli knew Kai. He knew how Kai was with me. He should have known Kai wouldn't be on his side. Or any side that showed he gave a single care about me.

He hadn't always been that way. Something had changed his mind. I always wondered if I'd ever know what did it.

"We can take my truck," Bella said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I agreed, since I didn't know where the path leading to whatever cliff she was so excited to hop off of was located.

We didn't talk on the way there. I wanted to ask questions, but Bella was so fidgety I couldn't bring myself to speak them aloud. Something was up with her. And for some reason, I was the one she decided to drag along to it. Lovely.

We parked on the side of the road and Bella led the way through the woods. It was a clear path once you got on it, but to find it in the first place you needed to know it was there—needed to be looking for it. When we got to the break in the trees leading to a small clearing, and then the cliff, I couldn't help myself. I had to ask.

"Why do you want to jump so badly right now?"

Bella took a couple of steps forward. I could only see her back, but I could tell she was wringing her hands. "It's recreational."

I rolled my eyes, though the act was lost on Bella. "Bullshit."

"Lots of kids on the rez do it," she defended.

"If what you're about to do was just _recreational_ ," I practically spat the word, "then you would have let Elijah come."

She shook her head. "I know how he dumped you. That wasn't right. I don't want to spend any extra unnecessary time with him." Wow. So Bella Swan wasn't entirely a selfish bitch. Interesting.

"Fine. But if this right now was recreational, you would be open to doing it again another day. You know, when a huge storm isn't brewing and the water isn't destined to drag us under."

Bella went still. Stopped wringing her hands. Stopped shifting from foot to foot. Stopped breathing, probably. Then she said, "Yeah."

I blinked. "What?"

"What's going on today? With Jacob and Sam and the rest of the p—the rest of them? It's about me. It's...it's my fault. Kind of. It's a mess." She paused and I could hear her taking a deep breath. "I need to fix it. This is the only way."

Her words trickled through my brain, slowly working their way in. As soon as I processed them, I gasped.

She was going to kill herself.

I strode forward, reaching to grab her arm, her hand—anything. I couldn't let her do this. No. No, no, no.

But she was moving forward herself, her steps swift and sure.

Bella kept walking and walking—right over the edge of the cliff.

And in following her, out of my mind with fear as I tried to stop her, I stepped right over the edge along with her.

* * *

 _Jacob_

I was rushing to get my shorts on so I could get back to Sam's house—back to Felicity. After having to leave her with Paul earlier so I could fetch Bella, I was practically aching to see her and make sure she was okay. That we were still on solid ground. We'd just shorted ourselves out. Hopefully today didn't set us back.

And hopefully Bella hadn't let anything slip she wasn't supposed to. I'd warned her that, even though Felicity was clearly under pack protection, she didn't know anything about the pack. But I hadn't had a lot of time—Sam was in a hurry to get out there and take down the redhead once and for all. So it was a rushed whisper as I was leaving, but I knew I'd gotten my point across. It was just up to Bella of whether or not she listened.

I bound up the steps in one leap, striding through Sam's front door. Once in the kitchen, my eyes grazed over the faces there as I searched for the one in particular I needed to see.

My gaze skimmed the room again.

And again.

And it came up empty each time.

My hands started to shake. "Where is she?" I growled.

"With Bella," Eli mumbled, clearly unhappy.

My attention snapped in his direction. "Where?"

Before Eli could reply, Kai sighed. "Girlfriend number 1 took girlfriend number 2 to go cliff-diving. Because apparently that's a fucking amazing idea right now." His tone was careless, if not a tinge annoyed.

I lifted to my full height, my head held high as my entire body began to tremble along with my hands. " _What_?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "You're the one who chose a crazy and a pushover for girlfriends. Don't get pissed at _me_ for their stupid decisions."

"You didn't think to maybe _stop them?_ " I was trying very hard not to shout. Emily was sitting at the table and I could tell she was uncomfortable, her eyes glued to my rapidly shaking hands. No need to make that worse.

He shrugged. "Not my girlfriends."

"City's your _sister_ ," Eli said, obviously bothered. Someone really needed to explain to him that defending Felicity was my job now. He needed to shut up.

"And Bella's not his girlfriend," Emily sneered, and for some reason her butting in didn't irritate me nearly as much as when Eli did.

The whole argument was pointless right now, however. We'd chased the redheaded vamp from one end of the rez to the other, until she'd finally taken to the water. Technically we could have followed, but we were at a severe disadvantage then. It was smarter to let her go and continue vigilantly watching the borders—including the edge of all the water that crossed onto our land. So the rest of the guys were running a heavy patrol and I was heading back here to relieve Seth...I just wanted to check up on Felicity first.

I hadn't been expecting her to not be here.

I never would have guessed she'd join Bella in...cliff-diving.

 _Shit_.

Just then, a howl split the air.

I spun on my heel and raced toward it. I knew where it'd lead me before I got there.

The cliffs.

As I entered the clearing that led directly to the top cliff, a scream pierced the air. My eyes barely caught Felicity tumbling over the edge.

My heart plummeted, but I didn't think. Didn't hesitate. I immediately ran forward, barely noticing someone joining me on my right as I jumped after Felicity.

I needed to get to her. To help her. To make her safe.

Hitting the water was a cold slap in the entire fucking body, but I didn't let it deter me. Right away, my eyes were open and searching. It was dark. A gloomy day. Why either of them would think today was a good day to visit the stupid cliffs at all was a mystery.

But there would be time to ask about all that later. First I needed to make sure my girl, my imprint, my entire _world_ made it out of this situation still breathing.

 _There_. I saw an arm. It wasn't moving.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I surged forward, forgoing my need for oxygen. I needed to get to her first. She needed to breathe too—we could do it together.

Finally my fingers enclosed around a thin upper arm. The electricity, the _heat_ , that usually shot through me when I touched her wasn't present.

I refused to let myself panic as to why.

Instead, I started kicking, kicking, kicking. Plunging us to the surface.

After what felt like forever but was probably only a few seconds, my head broke through the surface. I gasped in breaths as I tugged my girl up with me.

She was completely unresponsive.

I frantically began swimming toward shore. Fuck the current. Fuck the wind. Fuck anything that kept me from keeping my imprint alive.

My feet hit sand and I ran. I _sprinted_. Out of the water, I laid her down on the sand, trying to tell if she was even breathing.

And saw that this wasn't my girl at all.

It was Bella.

And, damn, Bella was cool and all, but I wanted to cry.

" _Breathe, doll_ ," a voice urged from behind me, a little farther offshore. "Fucking _breathe_."

Turning, I saw Paul—with Felicity in his arms as he pounded at her back. My first reflex had me wanting to tell him to calm down and not hit her so damn hard. But then it hit me what was happening. He was doing what he had to do to save her.

Paul had her covered, much as I wished it was me.

Bella, on the other hand, was still laying in front of me motionless.

I out no more thought into it and sprang into action. Copying Paul, I pushed Bella onto her side and began slapping her back. When nothing happened, I hit a little harder.

After a few moments, she began to cough and sputter. Water poured from her mouth—more than I ever would have imagined could have gotten stuck in her lungs.

As I watched Bella finally start to breathe, I heard Felicity vomiting behind me. With Paul. I held back a growl at the thought.

Once Bella was done coughing and settled into taking huge gasps of air, I tugged her so she could face me. "What were you _thinking_? The water is freezing! And don't even get me started on how crazy the wind…" I trailed off. "And you brought Felicity with you. Damn it, Bella!"

Bella seemed out of sorts. She blinked up at me, her breaths finally slowing. "Victoria was on your land. I had to do something." Her voice was quiet and rough, like it ached to speak, but I made out what she said without trouble.

My eyes narrowed and I gave her a slight shake, forcing myself to remain gentle. And calm. I needed to not shift right now. "We had it covered. We're good at what we do."

Bella just shrugged, and I again had to rein in my temper.

"I'm going to take Felicity home," Paul said from behind me, and I turned to see him standing with my girl cradled in his arms. She was conscious, but barely. Her blinks were slow as she looked up at him, her head resting on his shoulder.

I wanted to ask him to trade—to let me take care of Felicity while he brought Bella home. But Paul hated Bella. No way would he ever agree. Pair that with the fact that Paul was a huge fan of Felicity...the offer stood no chance. So I was resigned as I said, "Alright. I'll be over to see her soon."

Paul snorted. "Have fun with the lee— _her_." He glanced down at Felicity. "Come on, doll, let's get you home and warm." And with that, he turned and walked away, taking my imprint with him.

Pulling in a deep breath, I forced myself to stay calm even though I was entirely fucking furious at Bella. She somehow convinced Felicity to jump off a damn cliff—on today, of all days. And now she was keeping me from my own imprint because goodness fucking knew I couldn't just leave Bella here to fend for herself. Who knew what stupid bullshit she'd get herself into?

"Come on," I snarled, standing with Bella in my arms. "I'll take you home."

Bella didn't respond. Her eyes just landed everywhere except on me. I didn't care. She could be bashful or mad or whatever she wanted. I could not care any less.

She didn't speak at all almost the entire drive to her house. We were only a few blocks away when she whispered, "I'm sorry."

A heavy breath hissed out of me. "Good."

"I don't think she meant to go over," she said. "She was...she was trying to stop me."

Of course she was. Felicity didn't particularly like Bella—which I couldn't blame her for, with the way Bella had acted toward her—but she wouldn't just stand by while Bella jumped off a fucking cliff, either. "You shouldn't have been there. You shouldn't have done that. What did you even expect, anyway? All that would have accomplished was you dying, Bella."

She said nothing.

My eyes widened, and I glanced over to see her face bleached of color. "Did you _want_ to die, Bella?"

Immediately, she shook her head. "No! I didn't _want_ to. But I thought I had to. It was the only thing I could do to help."

I shook my head. "That's never the answer, Bella. And it didn't help, as I'm sure you can tell."

"Yeah," she murmured. "So what ha—"

She was cut off by a phone ringing. Bella opened her glove compartment and dug out her cell phone. Her brow wrinkled and she angled the screen my way. "Recognize that number?"

Glancing over, I saw Emily's number on the screen. Shit. "Yes. Hand it over." She gave me the phone and I answered it. "What's up?"

"Jacob," Sam's voice came over the line, sounding extremely unhappy. "Harry Clearwater had a heart attack."

"Oh shit."

Sam sighed. "He didn't make it."

" _Shit_."

"Yeah."

"Anything I can do?" I asked, because what else was there to say?

"Just...make sure your imprint is alright. We need everyone to be okay right now."

I nodded, though he obviously couldn't see it. "I'm dropping Bella off at her house, then I'll head over to see her. Paul's with her now."

Sam was silent.

"What?"

More silence. And then, "I'm just not exactly Bella Swan's biggest fan right now."

I huffed out a humorless laugh. "Neither am I."

"Right. So drop her off, then go see your imprint. We'll talk more later." And with that, he hung up.

I handed the phone back to Bella just as I parked outside her house.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

 _No_ , I thought. But what I said was, "Do you need me to help you inside?"

She bit her lip. "Maybe."

I nodded, pushing my door open to go around and—

A breeze blew into the cab of the truck, burning my nostrils.

I slammed the door shut, turning the key in the ignition.

"Wait, wait, wait, what's going on?" Bella asked, her hand landing on mine.

I pulled my own hand back, not really wanting her to touch me. "There's a vampire. We need to go somewhere else. Somewhere safe."

"But…" she started, then trailed off. A second later, she leaned closer to the windshield. "That's Carlisle's car!" She pointed to a mercedes across the street.

I blinked, for a moment not processing the meaning of her words at all. Then I scowled. "Seriously?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yes! That is definitely Carlisle's car. They're back!" There was more life in her eyes—in her face—in her entire _body_ than I'd seen in months.

A bitterness swirled in my stomach. "Are you sure it's not a trick?"

"Jake, that car is Carlisle's. I'd know it anywhere." She moved to open her door.

"And you're just going to run back to them? After they left you?" I was hesitant to ask my next question, but I couldn't help myself. "After we became friends?"

She glanced over at me, her face full of confusion. "We can still be friends, Jake. You're...well, you're like my own personal sun."

A month ago, those words would have turned me starry eyed. But now they made me sneer. If she went in there to them, she clearly had no idea what having her own personal sun actually meant. And how could she claim me as _hers_ when she didn't truly want me? Did she intend to keep me on a leash like some whipping boy at her beck and call?

It was total bullshit.

So I gave her an ultimatum. "If you get out of this truck, you and I will never be friends again, Bella."

Her eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

My brows lifted. "Oh, I am."

"You're overreacting," I accused.

"I'm really not, Bella. I've done a lot these past few months to make you happy. To be a good friend to you. And now you're turning your back on me at the chance that your precious Cullens are back? No." I shook my head. "So choose."

Her jaw was dropped. "But you're my best friend."

I grinded my teeth. "I won't let you pull me around by a string, Bella."

Her expression filled with anger. "Oh, so only _Felicity_ is allowed to do that, huh?"

A loud bark of a laugh escaped me. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Just make your choice, Bella. I don't have time for this."

She pressed her lips into a thin line, clearly furious. "I'm going to go inside and see Carlisle or whichever of the Cullens are back." She paused, as if expecting me to react.

I simply sat there, waiting for her to get her ass out of the truck. I'd leave after I saw her enter the house—I wasn't completely uncaring enough to not make sure she at least made it inside safely.

"Fine," Bella said, throwing her door open. "But you _are_ overreacting. And we will be friends again."

"Bye, Bella," I said, not willing to waste time arguing with her anymore.

"See you later, Jake." She didn't wait for a response before heading inside.

The moment she was inside, I hopped out of the truck and ran into the woods, heading in the direction of Felicity's place.

It was time to go to my imprint.

* * *

 **Whew. That's the chapter. A lot happened. What do you think? I'd love it if you left me a review with your thoughts! And the next chapter will be up as soon as I'm finished writing it. Thank you so much for reading! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi, friends! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. This summer has been much busier than expected. That said, I'm still here and I'm still writing. So no worries at all - I will DEFINITELY finish this story. It may take me some time, but it won't go unfinished.**

 **I just finished replying to the reviews from chapter eleven - sorry it took me so long, but please know that I always read and cherish your thoughts and appreciate more than I could ever say all of you for taking the time to read my story and share your thoughts with me. THANK YOU! And as always, thank you to everyone who has been favoriting and following this story. You guys rock.**

 **Now, all that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter of Still Breathing!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

 _Felicity_

It was a blur. One moment, I was falling, falling, falling.

The next I was heaving, more water pouring out of me than I'd thought could fit in my body.

Then I was up, up, up, in warmth and strong arms with Paul's voice chattering away at me in a way that was almost...frantic?

"I know your car is at Sam and Emily's, but Jake's place is closer, so we're going to steal his. He loves that stupid rabbit, but something tells me he won't care if I use it to get you home and safe." The arms holding me bounced. "Do you hear me? Are you alive? I hear your heart beating, but some response from you would be fucking golden right now."

He sounded so worried, I couldn't deny him. I opened my mouth to try to force words out, but ended up wheezing instead.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Paul rushed to say, his hands squeezing where they held me. "That's enough of a response for me. Don't die trying to talk to me, okay? I can talk enough for the both of us." He chuckled, but it was unsteady.

Blinking, I tried to look up at him. Did he appear as off kilter as he sounded?

Paul made a choking noise. "Oh, thank fuck. About time you opened those damn eyes, doll."

My mouth was dry and my voice was a croak, but I still told him, "I'm fine."

He chuckled again, this time sounding less unhinged. "Right. I'll believe you when you're not on the verge of turning blue. Let's get you home."

I refused to give his words much thought—if I was actually turning blue, that was scary—as he carried me up the driveway of a small house. Before we reached the porch, however, Paul stopped next to a small Volkswagen. He pulled open the passenger's side door and slid me inside.

Resting his hands on my shoulders, he met my gaze. It was getting harder to hold my eyes open. My entire body felt _drained_. "Wait here. I'm going inside for a quick second to grab the keys. _Do not_ fall asleep. Understood?"

A yawn overtook me, leading to another coughing fit. Crap, that hurt. When I could breathe again, I nodded. "Yeah."

For some reason, he didn't take me on my word. Probably because my eyes kept sliding closed. His hands on my shoulders shook me gently. "I'm serious, doll. Stay awake. You need to stay up until we get you warm."

Though I was so, so tired and my thoughts were sluggish, I could see his reasoning. Barely. But still, I saw it. So I said, "Fine. Hurry."

This time he did not argue with me. "Be right back." Then he was gone, loping toward the small house and through the door like he owned the place. Was this his house? Or wait, hadn't he said we were taking Jacob's car? Did that mean this was where Jacob lived?

My brain was full of questions but too exhausted to connect any of the dots. Now was clearly not the time to try to figure anything out. Or think at all, really. What I needed was…

 _Sleep_.

Lots and lots of sleep.

But not yet. Paul had asked me to stay awake, and he had a good reason. Something about turning blue? Turning blue wasn't good. Staying awake was definitely important.

I needed to stay awake.

Awake.

Awake.

Awa...what was taking him so long?

I was two seconds away from giving up and taking a tiny nap when the driver's side door opened. Paul took his seat, wasting no time slamming the door, starting the car, and driving away. He stole glances at me out of the corner of his eye as he steered us away from La Push.

"You were going to go to sleep, weren't you?" he accused.

My argument skills weren't exactly up to par at the moment, so I didn't even try to deny it. "You were taking too long."

"I was gone barely a minute!"

"Felt like twenty," I deadpanned.

Paul laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm tired," I disagreed.

The smile left Paul's face as his expression turned serious. "I know. Just let me get you home and warmed up and then you can sleep."

That was about two steps more than I wanted to wait. "And how long will all of that take?"

One corner of his mouth tipped up. "I guess we'll see. But you definitely can't sleep until after."

"Have I mentioned that I hate you?" I asked sweetly, holding back a yawn.

"I know you love me," Paul said.

"Shut up."

"No can do. I need to talk and keep you talking so that you don't pass out. You've got to stay alert."

"Shut _up_."

Paul smiled. "You say the nicest things."

And that was how the entire, ridiculously long drive went. Paul talked, I responded mostly with insults, and Paul took them as solid gold compliments even though I was imagining smacking him upside the head. All I wanted to do was take a little nap. Was that so terrible?

According to Paul, it was. Thus, I remained awake.

At the apartment, Paul parked and walked around to my side. "I'm going to lift you, okay?"

I looked at him. "I have two feet that aren't broken, you know."

Paul's eyebrows rose. "I am aware. But are you honestly up to using those two beautiful feet to walk yourself inside?"

My eyes rolled. "No, which is why I'm going to let you help me."

"Wow, how kind of you."

"I know, right?"

He snickered as he eased me out of the car and into his arms. Then he kicked the car door closed and strode into the apartment. Somehow he got the door unlocked and opened without dropping me on my ass. I'd have asked how, but I was too busy yawning. Again.

Inside, he walked us directly to the bathroom, setting me on the counter before fumbling around in the tub. I took the opportunity to lean against the mirror and close my eyes.

"Oh, hell no," he said. His arms wound around me again. I was lifted for only a moment—then he slowly dropped me into the still-filling bathtub. I released a sigh as the warm water pricked at me. My clothes were still on, so at least I had that layer protecting my freezing skin, but the sensation wasn't entirely pleasant. I tried to take comfort in the fact that I was one step closer to getting to take my nap.

Paul turned off the water, apparently deeming the tub full enough now. My eyes had slipped back closed so I'd have to trust him. I felt adequately submerged, if that counted for anything. "I don't know anything about helping people in this situation," he said nervously. "I think I heard somewhere that the water wasn't supposed to be _too_ warm, so I hope it isn't…"

Opening my eyes, I looked over his unsure face. Huh. He was kind of cute when he wasn't being a smart ass. "I think it's fine. Thank you."

He pursed his lips. "Okay. Good. Good. Um...oh! I'll be right back. Stay awake!" And with that, he rushed out of the room.

I considered taking a short rest while he was gone, but I knew if I fell asleep now I'd be sleeping for a while. The kind of nap I needed wasn't a quick one. So instead I stared at the walls and wondered what idea he could have gotten that had him running like that.

A few minutes later, he came back in—now carrying an armful of towels. He tossed all except one on the floor, then kneeled next to me. "Tossed these in the dryer for a couple of minutes while I started some coffee and cranked up the heater," he said.

I was about to respond but before I could he wrapped the towel he carried around my head.

"I don't want you putting your head under the water," he explained, the sound muffled by the linen covering my ears. "Since you're so damn drowsy. But your face—and your entire head, really—needs to warm up too. So I figured this might help."

For some reason, his explanation made me laugh. Hard. An actual burst of laughter.

Followed by a round of coughs, because of course.

Paul even pulled the towel away from my face to check on me. "Breathe, doll."

"Shut up," I told him when I was able.

We sat like that—me sitting in the tub and Paul holding a towel around my head—until the water started to get a bit chilly. By then, Paul had gone through two towels on my head and my hair was well on its way to being dry. Surely it was full of tangles and would be a total bitch to deal with once I actually tried to run a brush through it, but I would deal with that later.

Instead of making Paul lift me, I stepped out of the tub myself, both of my hands in Paul's for support. My legs worked, but they were wobbly.

"So these towels are still kind of warm, since it's basically a million fucking degrees in here," he said. "But you should probably get out of your wet clothes before we wrap you in them. I'll…" he paused, clearing his throat. "I'll help you? Okay?"

He'd help me...undress? Oh. Wow. I liked Paul a whole lot, but getting naked in front of him? I wasn't quite sure I was up for that. "Paul—" I started.

"Or I could stand here with my eyes closed while you undress yourself and you can use me for as much support as you need?" he offered uncertainly.

That sounded like a much better idea. "Okay."

He gave me a relieved smile. "Okay? Okay." He blew out a breath. "Shit, doll. No female has ever made me this damn nervous before. You're testing me, girl."

I giggled. "Something tells me you'll get over it. Now close your eyes."

He did as I said and I fumbled my way out of my soggy clothing. Then I stood there, clutching his arm...in nothing but a towel. "Um, Paul?" I asked hesitantly.

His eyes didn't open when he said, "Yeah?"

"Can you help me to my room so I can grab something to wear?"

"Shit!" he exclaimed, eyes snapping open in shock. "I almost forgot. I threw some stuff in the dryer for you before I brought the towels. So it'd all be freshly warm. Wait right here, okay?" He didn't wait for a reply before bounding out of the room.

I barely had a chance to blink in astonishment before he was rushing back into the room. His hands fumbled with the clothing, holding up a large pair of sweatpants and a sweater. They were clearly not mine. "They're going to be way too big, but I figure that's good. You can bundle up, right?"

Though I was still flustered—this unsure and, dare I say it, _sweet_ Paul was different, albeit pleasantly—I wasted no time nodding. I couldn't bear to crush the fragile look on his face right then. He wanted to be making the correct decisions in helping me. "Sounds great."

He smiled. "Awesome. So, yeah…" His eyes slid closed once more.

Paul was right in his assessment—his clothes were ridiculously huge on me—but he was also correct that they were nice to bundle up in. It was cozy. Once I was settled into the clothing, Paul led me to the living room and pushed me down to the couch, then proceeded to tuck a whole bunch of blankets around me. I had no doubt I'd be sweating in no time, but for now I was warm and comfortable and so glad I had Paul as a friend.

I told him so when he handed me a mug of coffee, the last step in Paul's efforts to keep me from hypothermia. I wasn't a doctor or anything, but I didn't think his methods were so bad. I didn't feel like I was on the verge of freezing to death anymore, if that counted for anything.

"Shut up and drink your coffee, doll," Paul responded, but the warm smile on his face was in no way hidden.

I did as he instructed—for one sip. Then I said, "Seriously, Paul. Thank you. After the situation with Elijah, it's important to me that you're being such an amazing friend. I appreciate it."

He rolled his eyes. "I threw you in a bathtub and wrapped you in blankets. Not like I ran into a burning building or any of that shit."

I pursed my lips, debating whether or not to point out that he had jumped into raging waters to tug me out. But then I caught the intense gaze he kept flicking toward me and then away. He was aware of all he was doing. He just wasn't keen on the attention for it. Interesting. "If you would just accept my thanks, we could end this conversation."

Paul shook his head. "If I do that, then I have to thank _you_ for being the least bitchy girl I've spent more than ten minutes with in a while—save for Emily. And Kim. But they're both seriously taken so I don't exactly get to hang out with them. But the point here is that you don't exactly suck as a friend, either. You're letting me live in your damn apartment, for fuck's sake. So if I accept your thanks, I'll have to give you mine and I'm not into that mushy shit. So let's just say we understand each other and drop it, yeah?"

It took all I had to not grin from ear to ear. I smothered the urge by lifting my mug back to my lips. Once I'd swallowed, I said, "Yeah, Paul. We understand each other."

He leaned back in his seat, huffing out a breath. "Thank fuck, because that conversation was getting heavy."

Now I laughed. "Scared of heavy conversation, Paulie?"

"Terrified," he said, face serious but eyes dancing.

I was laughing again when the front door opened and Jacob Black came racing right in.

He looked at me, gaze roaming over my form bundled in blankets as I blinked up at him in confusion. He hadn't knocked—and why was his expression so intense?

Finally he nodded and released a long sigh. "You're okay."

"Uh…" was all I could think to utter.

Jacob sighed again, then got to his knees in front of me. He rested his head in my lap and repeated in a whisper, "You're okay."

I held my coffee up so his head could rest in my lap, and I just blinked at him as he started crying.

* * *

 _Jacob_

The entire run to Felicity's place, my mind had spun with worst case scenarios—she was sick, she wouldn't wake up, she'd never be okay again...she'd stopped breathing. I trusted Paul to take care of her, but without seeing her with my own eyes, I couldn't be certain.

And without certainty, my brain freaked the fuck out.

So when I entered the apartment and saw her swaddled in blankets and holding coffee, looking all cozy and shit as she laughed, I stalled. Wholly, completely, totally. Everything in me stopped.

And then everything in me fucking _broke_.

Which left me an idiot, on my knees, sobbing.

Felicity was nice about it. She let me fall apart in her lap, not saying anything but placing one of her hands in my hair gently. I heard Paul rise from his seat and I knew they were communicating with their eyes. He could do that with her—they were best buds. A wave of jealousy rushed through my stomach, but I pushed it away. I knew that was all they were: friends. Paul couldn't be anything more even if he wanted to, which he didn't. The imprint secured that. So they were best friends and he knew Felicity better than I did...and that was all my own fault.

I could have lost her today, and Paul would have had more emotional claim over the loss than I did.

That revelation hit me so hard, my sobbing halted. I caught my breath and lifted my head.

Felicity gave me an uneven smile, clearly unsure of what was happening. Not surprising, considering I'd made a mess of things and then shown up at her apartment and wept into her lap. "You alright?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," I said, but my voice cracked.

She pursed her lips in disbelief. "Well, Paul's getting you some coffee." She shifted, pulling herself and her heaps of blankets over to make room on the other end of the couch. "Sit. Relax."

Helpless at the instruction from my imprint, and also very much needing to get off the damn floor, I did as she said. Then we both did our best to look at anything but each other, while also sneaking peeks when we thought the other wasn't looking.

We were terrible at this. I caught her every time, just as she kept catching me.

Luckily, Paul broke the awkward pattern by returning with a steaming mug in his hands. "Don't know how you take your coffee, man, and honestly don't fucking care. You're getting it black. Here ya go."

Rolling my eyes, I accepted the beverage. "Wow, thanks, buddy."

"Be glad I got you anything at all," he warned as he sat in the chair closest to Felicity. "You done with your breakdown?"

"It wasn't a breakdown," I huffed, taking a small sip of the warm drink.

Felicity and Paul exchanged a look. "It kind of was," Felicity said softly.

"It definitely was," Paul amended.

I sighed. "Doesn't matter. I'm fine now."

"You sure?" Felicity bit her lip.

I dropped my hand holding the mug to my lap and focused on her. I checked her out the best I could through the blankets, assuring myself yet again that she was okay. And she was. She didn't even appear like she'd gone through a near-death experience barely a couple of hours before. So I told her, "Positive."

"How's Swan?" Paul sneered.

My eyes narrowed and I answered through gritted teeth. "Fine."

Felicity shifted in her seat. "Maybe...maybe you should be with her, making sure she's alright."

It stung that my own imprint was trying to push me away to take care of someone else. But I'd bought this myself, and now I had to deal with the consequences. "She's fine."

Felicity didn't appear convinced, but she remained quiet. Paul didn't. He asked, "What happened?"

I shrugged. "I drove her home. An old friend was there, so she's with them now. I left to come here and make sure Felicity was okay. That's it."

"That's it?" Paul's brows were high.

I narrowed my eyes on him. "That's what I said."

Felicity spoke up and I turned to see her pursing her lips. "It seems like you're leaving something out."

Of course she would catch that. The imprint bond made it unlikely for me to get away with successfully bending the truth to her. Not that I planned on doing a whole lot of lying...once she was let in on the wolf secret, at least. "Bella and I have been friends for a really long time. Our friendship has gotten kind of complicated, and there are things about it that I don't like. So I told her that. She didn't listen. And that's it. I left her there to go inside to her friend and I'm done dealing with her shit." My voice was hard by the end of my explanation. Partly because I was an idiot who drank the Bella Kool-Aid for so damn long, and partly because it sucked to lose a friend no matter how much I was realizing I didn't actually need _her_.

"I'm sorry," Felicity said quietly, her eyes sad.

Paul snorted. "I'm not. Bella's the fucking worst. About time, man, seriously."

"Paul!" Felicity snapped. "You're not helping."

I waved a hand. "It's actually okay. He's right."

She continued to pointedly glare at Paul. "Doesn't mean he has to be an ass about it." She paused, then sighed. "Oh, wait. He's Paul. Of course he does."

Paul gasped in mock offense and I burst out laughing. When I caught my breath, I saw Felicity was watching me with a small smile painting her lips. And in that moment, it hit me. It was obvious, and seriously pathetic that it'd taken so long to click, but it finally connected in my brain.

This was exactly where I needed to be.

This was exactly the person I needed in my life.

However we turned out—whether it was friends or more—I'd always need Felicity.

And I was more than okay with that.

Our eyes met and I smiled back.

Paul cleared his throat, breaking into our moment. "When you say Bella has a _friend_ back, do you mean…?" he trailed off, avoiding the word _vampire_ with Felicity in the room.

I sighed. "I mean it was one of the Cullens. I don't know which. She just recognized the car and went inside by herself."

"Interesting," Paul said unhappily. "So do we get more details on what happened with Bella? Did you cuss her out? Because I need that story in my life."

I snorted. "No, I did not cuss her out. I gave her an ultimatum and she didn't choose me." I didn't mention that she was also still self-absorbed to the point that she didn't think my ultimatum was serious. But it was.

It was then, and it damn fucking sure was now.

Who needed Bella when they had Felicity?

"I meant it, by the way," Felicity chimed in. "I'm sorry for how things went with Bella."

I wasted no time shaking my head. "I'm kind of not. It's about time I realized what kind of friend she really was."

Her head tilted to the side as she studied me with a serious gaze. "I'm not going to argue that, but I'm sure it's still not fun to lose a friend. Especially one you've known a long time."

Shit, she was amazing. "Yeah," I smiled. "But I'm not exactly hurting in the friend department either." Hopefully she got my hint.

She blinked. "Right."

" _Damn_ right," Paul said. "We're the fucking best, aren't we, doll?" He nudged Felicity's knee.

She rolled her eyes. "Your modesty is blinding."

Paul grinned. "Hear that, man? She called me hot."

"He has a hearing problem," I said.

She looked at me. "Yeah, it's called _delusional_."

We laughed.

And thus began a round of joking and hanging out, being calm and relaxed and happy. It was the most pleasant time spent with friends I'd had in a while. I didn't particularly want to compare Felicity to Bella—because that wasn't fair to either of them—but I couldn't help but remember how Bella would be in these situations: quiet, impatient, wanting to go somewhere else to walk or watch TV without my other friends around. She was polite and nice enough, but she'd never truly clicked with anyone in the pack.

Felicity was clearly clicking—and with _Paul_ , of all people. I'd already known this, seeing as their friendship wasn't a secret. But this was the first time I'd spent prolonged time with them. My first urge was to be jealous of their bond. I refused to give in to it, though, and instead enjoyed the time with my imprint.

This lasted until Felicity's lids began to droop and she struggled to hold back yawn after yawn.

"I think it's okay for you to take that nap now," Paul told her.

She smiled sleepily. "I'd say I want to chill longer, but I really need to go be unconscious." Facing me, her smile grew. "Thanks for dropping by. And staying."

My heart literally fucking stuttered at her added _and staying_. Finally, I'd done something right. I grinned. "Glad you're okay. And we should hang out again."

Felicity nodded, flailing and kicking herself free of the blankets she was still swaddled in. "Definitely. See you later." After standing up, she gave a lazy wave as she walked away.

She didn't look back, and that was good because I didn't return her wave. I was frozen.

She was wearing Paul's clothes.

Paul's. Clothes.

The human side of me knew it was irrational to get angry at this, but the wolf within was fuming.

"She needed to be cozy and warm," Paul said, sensing my rising fury.

I glared. "And all those blankets didn't do the job?"

He shook his head. "The clothes were first. And honestly, she needed both. She was freezing, bro. I was seriously worried."

And that snapped me right out of it. Both the fact that Paul was actually worried and that Felicity had been put in danger thanks to Bella's fucked up decision. Shit.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Thanks for taking care of her."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Didn't do it for you."

"Yeah," I said because I knew. Felicity was important to him too...even though she was _my_ imprint.

"You hear about Harry?" Paul asked, voice subdued.

I nodded. "Sam called. You?"

"Same. I didn't get to talk much, other than to be told the news, since I was rushing around to get all the warm shit I could think of for Felicity, but fuck. It sucks."

"Yeah," I repeated because he was right. This sucked. Harry Clearwater was one of the few people who didn't actually shift that knew the protector secret. He'd been a kind ally within the tribe.

Neither of us said anything for a few minutes. Then Paul's head snapped up. "You need to hang out with her again sometime?"

I smirked. "Definitely."

"Glad you're finally pulling your head out of your ass."

Now I couldn't help but smile. "So am I." Man, was I glad.

His return smile was fierce. "But you'd better be fucking amazing to her. She doesn't deserve your shit. True alpha of the pack or not, I'm not afraid to kick your ass."

* * *

 **And that's chapter twelve! What do you think? I hope you enjoyed it! It'd make my day if you'd leave a review with your thoughts. And in that review, I'd LOVE to know what your favorite part of this chapter was? I'm just curious. Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll be back as soon as I can with the next chapter! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi, friends! Long time, no post, for which I am sorry. I have some UPDATES, but I'll put those in the ending author's note. For now, I just want to say thank you so, so, SO much to everyone who has reviewed. I didn't get the chance to reply to reviews this time around but I do read every single one and they mean the world to me. THANK YOU. Also, to everyone who has favorited and followed this story: thank you. I appreciate you!**

 **Now, I won't hold this up any longer. It's been a while, but here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 _Felicity_

The day after the fall with Bella, I woke up still feeling exhausted. But I couldn't go back to sleep—I had to go to work. So I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower, hoping that would help snap me awake.

It ended up doing the job well enough that I felt I'd be able to make it through my shift without passing out. It helped that the scent of coffee brewing was drifting through the apartment as I made my way to the kitchen.

Paul looked up from a massive bowl of cereal when I walked in. "Morning, doll."

"Morning," I mumbled, going directly to the coffee pot.

"I figured you'd need some after the hell that was yesterday," Paul said.

I took a sip before heading over the the toaster and said, "And I have to be at work in an hour. So that'll be fun."

Paul frowned. "Maybe you should call in today. A day off wouldn't be remiss so you could rest."

I shook my head. "I seriously need the hours. I'm lucky I could grab some extra ones during spring break."

His eyes narrowed as he studied me contemplatively. "You know, I can chip in too. I'm practically living here. Let me help out with stuff."

"Not necessary," I said with a sigh. "Elijah still covers...a lot." _Practically everything_ was what I didn't want to say, even though it was the truth.

He scoffed. "Even more reason to let me pitch in. You don't need the stress of leaning on your ex." He paused, looking speculative. "And it'd probably be beneficial to make things a little easier on him and Leah right now."

I glanced over from where I was buttering my toast. "What's going on with them?"

"Leah's father died yesterday," Paul said solemnly.

"Oh no." I released a soft breath. "That's terrible." I finished preparing my breakfast and carried it over to the table, taking the seat opposite Paul. "And you're right. I should cut them loose. This month's bills are topped up, but I'll see what I can do from now on. I think I'm going to have to move."

Scraping the bottom of his bowl, Paul lifted a brow. "Why would you have to move? I said I'd help."

I pursed my lips. "Even so, these apartments are too nice. We could probably swing it, but it'd be tight. I want more breathing room." I took a bite of my toast. Once I swallowed, I added, "Besides, it's not like this place holds memories of sunshines and rainbows. So it'd be two birds with one stone."

Paul lifted the bowl, drinking the milk that was left. Then he said, "I don't like you moving to lesser apartments, though. That's a shitty idea."

I snorted. "It's Forks, Paul. Not like there's any bad parts of the neighborhood. I'll just end up with less amenities."

He nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. "Would you be up to moving in together?"

I blinked at him. "You mean like we are already currently doing?"

He smirked. "No, smartass. I mean officially. Both our names on the lease and all that fun stuff. We split everything down the middle, and I'm officially living wherever you are so I don't have to deal with going to my dad's place. Then it'd be three birds with one stone."

He made good points—it was all in all a great idea. We were already practically doing it. And it wasn't like Paul was tough to live with. He was actually a model roommate, as far as I could tell. And he'd been trustworthy from day one. So really, there wasn't a decision to make—the answer was obvious.

"Sounds great to me," I said.

Paul smiled. "Perfect. I'll start looking for places with vacancies. You sticking just to Forks or can we branch into the rez?"

Squinting, I tilted my head to the side. "I don't think I'd be allowed to live on the reservation. Aren't there rules about that?"

He shrugged. "I have a huge hunch that you'd be allowed to just fine." There was a twinkle in his eye. Did he know something I didn't?

"I'm not so sure," I said, deciding not to take the bait. Knowing Paul, he was leading this conversation down a path to an inappropriate punchline. "Besides, I need to stay in Forks so I can graduate."

This won Paul over. "Right, right. Okay. I'll keep my eyes peeled for places within Forks limits."

I smiled. "Awesome." I popped the last bite of my toast in my mouth and tipped my coffee mug to my mouth to finish the last dregs of the beverage. Then I walked my dishes over to the sink. It was there that I remembered where I'd left my car. " _Shit_ ," I hissed. "Do we still have Jacob's Volkswagen? Or did he take it with him when he left? I completely forgot about my car at Sam and Emily's and I need a way to get to work."

Paul stood from his seat and strode over to me, setting his bowl on top of my plate. Once he had the spoon rested inside he turned to me and dug in his pocket—and out came my keys, which he dangled in front of my face. "Jacob, in an attempt to be your new BFF, fetched your car for you before he took his Rabbit home."

"That was nice of him," I said, snatching my keys from Paul's fingers.

Paul grinned. "Right. Very nice. But he needs to remember that the position of BFF has already been filled. So he can _keep dreaming_."

I laughed. "Getting jealous already?"

He pressed his palm over his chest. "Desperately."

I rolled my eyes. "You're ridiculous. I need to go get ready for work." And with that, I strode out of the room to do just that.

* * *

Later that night, I returned home to no Paul. I went to cook dinner expecting him to show up, however, since he usually did whenever there was food involved. The guy was like a human garbage disposal.

I opened the fridge to pull out some cheese for mac and cheese casserole...to see that the space was actually loaded. Produce and drinks and cold cuts and more filled the space. Blinking in shock, I shut the fridge and moved over to the cupboards. Opening them one by one, I saw that they were loaded too. I stepped back to check out the freezer and, yep, that was also full.

Finally, I just stood in the center of the kitchen, uncertain what to do. Obviously Paul had done this, since he was the only one other than me and Elijah who had a key, and the odds of Elijah going out of his way to do this were slim to none. It shouldn't have been so surprising after that morning's conversation about him chipping in, but still it was. And I couldn't shake it.

I wasn't sure how long I stood there before I heard the front door open and not one but two sets of footsteps made their way inside.

"Please tell me you're not cooking," Paul called, "because I've got some pizzas right here and we've got some lame-ass company!"

I remained in place, but slid my eyes to the doorway just in time to see Paul saunter through with four (yes, _four_ ) pizza boxes in his hands.

And right behind him came Jacob Black.

And still, I stood there blinking like an idiot.

Paul set down the food and squinted at me. "You alright?"

"You shopped," I blurted.

He smiled. "I did. Figured it was the best way to help out since I go through more food in a week than you do in a month."

Now Jacob was studying me with concern. "Really, are you okay?"

I looked at him. "Thanks for bringing my car back."

His lips tipped upwards tentatively. "No problem."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting to come home to a full kitchen." _And I wasn't expecting to see Jacob Black again so soon_ , I didn't add.

Paul shrugged, grabbing some plates from the cupboard. "Yeah, it was a surprise."

"Thank you," I said.

"Shut up," he replied. "It's my food too. Besides, once we move in together we'll have to go halfsies on shit anyway."

Jacob, who was already taking a bite of one of the three slices of pizza he'd stacked on the plate Paul had handed him, choked. Quickly, I grabbed him a bottle of water from the fridge and opened it, holding it out. He took it and once he was done coughing, took a long sip.

"You okay?" I asked.

He nodded. "Sure, sure. I'm fine. What's that about you two moving in together?"

I shrugged. "We're already roommates. We figured we might as well make it official, so as soon as we find a new place that's what we're going to do." I studied him. "It's nice to see you. I mean…" I paused. "I know I just saw you yesterday. But I didn't know I'd see you so soon, so...it's...nice…" I stopped, deciding that was enough. No reason to make a _total_ fool of myself. Besides, I probably shouldn't have been surprised. He _had_ said we should hang out more. Clearly he was serious.

"I meant it when I said we should hang out more," Jacob said, somehow picking up on where my thoughts had gone. "Plus, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to have pizza."

I nodded, not wanting to turn this into a big deal. I was glad he was here. I wanted to spend more time with him—for whatever unknown reason. It wasn't often, or really ever, that I had such a strong urge to spend time with people. Until Jacob. And being friends with Paul felt right, too.

Jacob appeared unsure all of a sudden. "You meant it when you said you wanted to hang out, right? You weren't just agreeing with me to be polite? Because I can go ho—"

"No," I cut him off. "I wasn't just being polite. Stay."

Jacob smiled, but Paul made a gagging sound. "You two, I fucking swear."

"Are you jealous, Paulie?" I asked, grinning.

"Yeah, you know we love hanging out with you too," Jacob said.

"The three amigos."

"The three best friends that anybody could have."

"The best of friends and best—"

"Okay, okay!" Paul yelled, laughing. "Damn."

"You done pouting?" I asked, taking a bite of my food.

He rolled his eyes. "If it'll make you two shut up."

I smiled. "You love us."

"Whatever," he said, the corners of his lips tipped up as he hefted himself out of his seat. "Nature calls. Play nice while I'm gone." Then he strode out of the room.

"He's ridiculous," I told Jacob.

"You can say that again." He shoved nearly an entire piece of pizza into his mouth, and I couldn't look away. He caught me staring and raised his brows. "What?"

I tilted my head to the side. "It's just amazing at how much food you can cram into your mouth."

He laughed. "I've had lots of practice. Food is basically my favorite hobby."

"Oh, I can tell."

"Glad to hear it." He smiled. Then his expression turned thoughtful. "So…" he said, tone hesitant. His eyes strayed to the door, where Paul could walk in at any second. "Harry Clearwater's funeral is tomorrow…"

I froze, hoping he wasn't about to ask what he seemed to be working up the nerve to.

But then he rushed and said, "And I was wondering if you would come with me?"

I released a heavy sigh. I didn't want to tell him no. He'd been a great friend so far and I wanted to return the favor. However… "I don't think that's a good idea."

And of course, as he was prone to do, Paul walked in just then. "What bad idea does Jake have now?"

Jacob scowled. "It's the same idea I know you have."

Paul's brow lifted. "Your mind is so not great enough to think like mine."

"I invited her to the funeral."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"And why is that not a good idea, doll?" Paul asked, narrowing his gaze at me.

I narrowed my gaze right back at him. "You know as well as I do that me attending the funeral of Leah Clearwater's father is no good."

Paul shook his head. "No, I know you attending the funeral of Harry Clearwater, a man Jacob and I have known our entire lives, would be much appreciated."

When he put it that way, the idea had a little merit. "I don't know."

"Please?" Jacob said softly.

My eyes met his, and his were shining, if only slightly. This was important to him, though I couldn't understand why. Surely he had other friends he'd known longer. But at this point I not only didn't want to deny him—I _couldn't_. There was no way I could say no to that pleading face. "Okay."

Jacob huffed out a breath. Apparently he didn't know how that look on his face had affected me. "Thank you."

I nodded, pulling apart the crust of the pizza left on my plate.

"Seriously," Jacob said. "Thank you. And it'll be fine."

"Yeah, doll," Paul agreed around a mouth full of pizza. "We'll be with you the whole time. No worries."

Pulling in a breath, I nodded again and repeated, "Okay." Hopefully they were right—the last thing I wanted to do was cause drama at a funeral.

* * *

 _Jacob_

The day of Harry Clearwater's funeral was, unsurprisingly, stormy. We honored him outdoors anyway, umbrellas up and Felicity tucked between me and Paul. I knew she'd been nervous about showing up, but I was glad to have her here. Harry and my father had been best friends since forever—Harry might as well have been my uncle. He was kind and he was wise and he was so hilarious. And he'd been an amazing support once we all began shifting.

Losing him fucking sucked.

And it didn't help that neither of my sisters could tear themselves away from their busy, important lives to be here.

But my imprint pressed to my side, taking her day off from work just to be here for me...well, that helped. Quite a bit.

After we finished outside, there was a potluck at the Clearwater residence. Felicity had baked cookies for it—another thing that blew me away. I was one lucky fuck to call her my imprint.

Paul took them to the table designated for desserts while I led Felicity toward where the Clearwaters were receiving condolences. Felicity became tense.

"We'll be okay," I murmured, leaning down to speak closer to her ear.

She didn't relax, but she did nod.

Paul joined us again just before we made it to the front of the line. "No worries, doll," he told her quietly.

She gave him another nod.

Then it was our turn, and we stepped in front of Sue, Seth, Leah, and Elijah. I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around Sue. "This sucks."

Sue sniffled. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," I said, stepping back. I repeated my condolences to Leah and Seth, giving Seth a handshake. I heard Paul doing the same, but Felicity remained rooted in place and silent.

I turned to check on her and saw she was staring at the floor biting her lip. I was about to tug her away when she snapped her gaze to Leah.

"I am so sorry," she whispered. "So, so sorry."

Leah's expression was full of sorrow, but also...understanding? "Thanks."

Wow. I was in shock. Too shocked to hear Felicity giving condolences to Seth and Sue as well—and Seth gave her a hug. It wasn't until we were walking away that I said, "What just happened?"

Felicity shrugged. "I guess Elijah told her a little bit about me." She sighed. "So. Food?"

Apparently she didn't want to expound, so we headed over to the food, Paul right behind us.

* * *

Later that night, the rain had stopped, and Sam and Emily decided to host a bonfire on the beach. I was tempted to drop Felicity off at her apartment—and maybe even skip the thing along with her—but Paul gave me a glare and invited her along before I could try. She thought it sounded like a fun way to pay respects, so I couldn't talk her out of it—she was so intrigued by the idea that I didn't even want to.

I'd just need to hope no one let the secret of the pack slip in front of her. I didn't want her to know yet. I wanted our friendship to grow first. Get stronger. As it was, we'd only been hanging out for a few days. It was much too soon to let the wolf out of the bag just yet.

It was going to be casual—which meant there wouldn't be any telling of the Quileute legends—so that was good. But there was apparently going to be alcohol...now that worried me. Drunk, grieving werewolves?

I probably had to adjust my expectations on when Felicity would learn the secret.

But instead of working on contingency plans, I just hoped for the best and tried not to dwell on it.

When we arrived, most of the pack was already there. Sam, Emily, Jared, Kim, Quil, Collin, Brady...only the Clearwaters, Elijah, Embry, and Jackass Kai were missing. Embry and the jackass were patrolling, and the Clearwaters were sticking home with Sue, so we were really the last to arrive since I figured Elijah would stick with Leah.

Our late arrival hadn't stopped anyone from cracking open some beers and chatting as they waited. Paul snagged beers for himself and Felicity and announced, "Everyone, this is Felicity. Doll, these are some assholes."

Emily smirked. "Oh really, Paul?"

Paul grinned. "Okay, here are some assholes _and_ Emily—aka the sweetest person who cooks the sweetest things because she's a sweetheart."

"Laying it on thick, I see," Felicity laughed.

Emily have her a conspiratorial glance. "If not for you and me, he'd die of starvation."

Felicity laughed again and, finally, I relaxed. We were among friends. They weren't out to screw up my relationship with my imprint.

And so we settled into the moment, talking and laughing—sometimes about Harry, but also just about random shit. No one let Felicity feel left out even though she wasn't privy to any of the situations surrounding the stories. We explained enough so she got it, and she would laugh with us. A lot. Even more as we all got more than a little buzzed.

I would never, not ever, forget the beautiful sound of her laughter. Or the feel of her arm brushing mine. The smile on her face.

Or the best moment—when we were laughing at some stupid thing Quil said and she leaned against me for support, shaking with mirth. She looked up at me, eyes shining happily.

And in that moment it hit me, making me breathless while also causing my heart to fucking soar.

I didn't want to be friends. I didn't only want to make her mine.

I wanted everything.

Because holy shit, I fucking loved this beautiful girl.

* * *

 **That's it for chapter 13! I hope you enjoyed it. I'd LOVE if you let me know what you think by leaving a review!**

 **Now, for those UPDATES I mentioned in the opening A/N:**

 **1) I'm almost done writing this story. Like, I have 2 (maybe 3...since I have quite a bit left to wrap up currently and may need to add a chapter to my plan, but we'll see) chapters left to write. Overall, this story will be either 20 or 21 chapters. No epilogue, mostly because I don't have one in mind. Where chapter 20 (or 21, if needed) ends, that's exactly what I had pictured in my head for the ending from the day I started this story.**

 **2) Since I'm almost done WRITING the story that means I have chapters sitting on my laptop ready to go. Which means I'll be posting regularly. I won't post everything all at once, because I need to finish those last couple of chapters and also want to get a fair head start on my next stories (more on that in a second), but I should post at least twice a week until Still Breathing is complete...if not more. I'm kind of playing it by ear.**

 **3) Yes, I'm already working on my next story...or stories. The next big story idea I have is actual Cullen-based, with an Edward/Bella pairing with a large focus also on a Jasper/Bella friendship. I re-read the first three Twilight books recently and got the idea, and I'm actually SUPER excited about it! That said, I tend to get an itch to write imprinting something close to all the freaking time, soooo...I think I may do two stories at once. I'm not certain I will, and if I do I'm not entirely sure what that story will be. I have an inkling (aka, I think I may continue an idea I started a while ago - back when I was deciding what to write next after YAMS, actually), but until I try putting words down and brainstorming a full-blown plot I won't be sure. I'll let you guys know when I'm sure! Mostly, I don't want to start posting any story that I don't have complete intent to finish. (Even if it may take me a while...if you've been reading my stories for a while now you know I can take a good bit to post - but I always DO post, I always come back! I won't abandon my stories!)**

 **4) This is more of a question: For those of you that have read YAMS, would you want me to expand on that story? I'm not sure I WILL, but I've been considering it. I have a couple of ideas bouncing around. I'm not sure they're enough to actually pursue, especially when I have so many NEW story ideas I'm looking forward to writing, but if it's something people want I may put more thought into it.**

 **5) That's actually it. Sorry for the long A/N, friends, but I want to keep you in the loop! Again, thank you so much for reading! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello, my lovely friends! SO. I've officially finished writing Still Breathing. It's 20 chapters, and the longest fic I've written to date. Like, double the length of YAMS, I'm pretty sure. So. Yeah. We've got six chapters to go after this one!**

 **Now, what better way to celebrate completing writing this story than to post a chapter for y'all? :) Before I leave you to it, though, two things:**

 **1) THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has reviewed. Reviews are the best ever and I adore y'all for leaving them. They make my day! Another thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed the story. Your support is so appreciated.  
2) I've posted a teeny tiny bit about my next story in the COMING SOON portion of my profile. It's not much but it's a title and a teaser of the premise, so yay?**

 **Alright, that's it. I hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

 _Felicity_

The day after the funeral, I woke up with a headache. I groaned a little as I rolled over in my bed, glancing at the clock. It was my last day before school went back in session from spring break, and since I'd traded shifts to get yesterday off, I had to work a double shift today.

A glass of water, two little tablets, and a note on the bedside table caught my eye.

I couldn't help the smile itching at my lips as I plucked up the note to read:

 _Felicity_ —

 _Hope you got some rest. You really needed it. Thanks for coming with us yesterday, it meant a lot. And I really ended up having a great time. Take the aspirin before you even get out of bed - it_ _'ll help._

 _Have a good day. See you soon._

— _J_

Though it wasn't a glowing letter of adoration, I was practically beaming by the time I finished reading anyway. Jacob was sweet. And kind. And thoughtful.

And...holy crap, was I falling for him?

No. I couldn't be. I was just very fond of my new great friend. There was no way it could be anything more than that. Not yet. We hadn't even been friends that long, _and_ I was newly divorced.

So. Just friends. It was decided—no, it was reality. Now I needed to get ready for work and stop thinking so hard about Jacob freaking Black.

* * *

Later that night as I was nearing the end of my second shift, Paul walked in. "Hey, doll," he said, striding over to my register without a care in the world—not that it mattered since our one customer was currently flirting with my co-worker Tyler Crowley.

"Paulie," I greeted him.

He rolled his eyes. "That nickname. Whatever."

I snickered. "What did I do to earn the honor of this visit?"

Paul smiled, lifting his chin. "Now that's more like it. I'm here to make sure you get food and drive you home." He glanced around. "It's time for you to blow this hellhole, right?"

"Um…" I mumbled, peeking over at where Tyler was very not focused on working. "I'm not sure."

"You can go, Felicity," the manager, Adam, said as he walked over from the direction of the office. "Tyler is still here for another hour; he's got it covered." Then he walked over to presumably set Tyler back on task.

I was beyond caring what was going on with Tyler at that point, so I just told Paul I'd be right back and went to collect my stuff. In the car a few minutes later, Paul asked, "Is that Tyler guy always like that?"

My attention had been on the road ahead of us, even though I'd let Paul drive my car since I was so tired, but I raised my brows anyway. "What?"

"That guy you work with. Tyler. He always an ass who doesn't carry his weight? And for that matter, does he ever bother you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Work is fine, Paul. If Tyler gets off task, the managers have a word with him. Besides, it's not like I work with him all the time."

"Okay." Paul nodded. "And what about the other half of my question? Does he bother you?"

"No," I answered immediately, and it was the truth. He'd been annoying when I was with Elijah, but ever since we'd broken up Tyler hadn't given me a second glance—something for which I was grateful. Tyler was the kind of guy who wanted what he couldn't have. It was what made him and Mike Newton such great buds. They bonded over that crap.

"Doll—" Paul started.

" _Paul_ ," I cut him off sharply, not in the mood for this in the slightest. "I appreciate that you're trying to look out for me, but I'm being honest. Tyler doesn't bother me in any way other than not pulling his weight at work sometimes, which I already told you gets handled by the managers. Now let's leave it at that and get some freaking McDonald's already."

Paul blinked out the windshield, saying nothing for a moment. Then, "Alright, doll. Whatever you want. Just let me know if that changes, yeah?"

I sighed. "Sure, Paul. Now food. Please."

He smiled. "A woman after my own heart."

I couldn't help but smile too. "Shut. Up."

A moment later, we pulled into the McDonald's drive-thru, one car ahead of us. "I need you to agree to something real quick, no questions asked," Paul said seriously as we waited for our turn.

Turning to face him, I saw his eyes were on me. "What is it?"

"Let Jacob drive you to and from school tomorrow."

I blinked, not expecting those to be the words that came out of his mouth. "What? Why?"

He shook his head. "No questions. Not now, anyway. Hopefully there will be some sort of explanation soon…" He paused. "But will you let him drive you?"

The expression on Paul's face was almost pleading. Whatever the reason behind his request was, it was important. So I nodded. "Okay." The car in front of us advanced to the window. "It's our turn."

Paul smiled. "Perfect. Time for a dozen Big Macs."

I laughed because I had no doubt he was serious, but in the back of my mind I was highly curious about whatever could be going on to require Jacob to give me a ride to school. Apparently I'd have to wait until they were willing to share, though, which was fine.

I could be patient.

* * *

The next morning, as agreed, I let Jacob drive me to school. We were both still tired so neither of us said much, but we sat in companionable silence. And then at the end of the school day, as promised, Jacob was in the student lot waiting for me.

"Hey," he said, clearly more alert than he had been that morning.

"Hey," I replied with a smile.

"So," he started, his tone less than eager. "We need to make a stop real quick."

"Okay…" I said hesitantly, unsure why he was looking so unenthused.

He sighed. "It's not a conversation I want to have. But I need to get it over with, and then maybe we can hang out?"

"Sure," I said easily, liking the prospect of spending more time with Jacob—because we were friends, _not_ because I was falling for him. "Who do you need to talk to?"

Jacob frowned, crinkling his nose in displeasure. "Bella." He pulled over on the side of a road lined with trees. "I'll try to be quick, but I'll need you to wait here."

I stared at him. He wanted me to sit in the car by myself while he had a chat with _Bella_? My gut tightened at the idea—at the thought of him speaking with Bella at all—but I didn't want to be That Girl. I didn't want to be clingy and whiny, turning something simply into a big deal—especially when I had no real claim on Jacob anyway. We were just friends.

So instead of expressing my distaste, I let it simmer in my stomach as I said, "Okay."

He released an audible breath. Apparently he'd expected me to react the way I'd actually wanted to. "You're awesome," he told me. "I'll make this as quick as possible, I promise."

"Okay," I repeated, because what else could I say?

Jacob's lips lifted in a soft smile as he stared at me. Before he could act on whatever that intense look was about, his head snapped up to look out his window. I followed his gaze and saw nothing, but I guessed it was a sign he was about to go.

I settled into my seat, ready to wait for him to return—maybe then he'd let me in on what the hell was going on.

* * *

 _Jacob_

The last thing I wanted was to leave Felicity alone in the car to have a talk with _Bella_ and her Cullen. I'd mean it when I told her to choose—she'd made the wrong decision and, honestly, I wasn't too broken up over it. I had Felicity now. And, man, no one in the world was better for me than her.

"I'll be just a minute," I promised Felicity as I slid out of the car.

"Alright," she said, not looking too at ease with the situation. Well, that made two of us.

But I had to get this over with so I could come back to her, so I went to the place I'd designated to Cullen in my mind for them to meet me—a little ways into the woods; enough to have privacy but not enough to be too far away from Felicity.

Bella was already there, Cullen's arm around her shoulders as they waited. When I entered the small clearing, he wasted no time to say, "You can tell Sam the message has been received."

He'd pulled it from my head. Of course. I told him anyway, "The treaty still stands. You stay on your land and don't bite any humans and we'll mind our own business. However," I added, "we won't physically be able to stick to the reservation. We won't bother you guys, but we need to spend some time in Forks." I'd managed to keep this secret from Bella so far, no reason to draw attention now. Though surely Edward could see all about it in my fucking head.

"I can," he confirmed. "Why the secrets?"

I shrugged. "I'm loyal to my pack."

"Wait," Bella said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you saying you're amending the treaty the Quileutes have had with the Cullens for decades because you want to spend time in Forks with your _rebound_?"

In that moment two things happened—first, it really, truly hit me how selfish and petty Bella could be when things didn't go exactly her way, and second, a snarl ripped out of my throat as my fists clenched in anger at the insult to my imprint. _Rebound_? She fucking called Felicity my rebound. As if I even needed a rebound from _Bella_. The idea was laughable.

"Hey," Edward snapped. "Careful with those thoughts, mutt."

I barked out a laugh that was void of humor. "Whatever, leech. Just don't bother us and we won't bother you." I met his eyes, refusing to directly give his girlfriend anymore of my time. "And keep your leechlover away from us, too. She's not wanted on the rez any longer."

Still, I refused to look at her but her voice was stunned as she said, " _What_? Jake, don't—"

The Cullen cut her off. "Understood. Quietly, he murmured to her, "Your comments about his...girl were too much."

I really didn't want to hear their exchange where he hashed all this shit out to her. Especially if he planned to tell her the secret we'd been trying to keep close to the pack—imprinting was too important to take chances with. So I said, "We've agreed. Now I'm leaving." And then I walked away, trying to control my breathing so I could calm down—but it wasn't until I exited the trees and saw Felicity waiting for me in the car that I could pull in a deep, full breath.

Once I'd climbed into the car, I sat there for a moment, just breathing.

"You okay?" Felicity asked quietly, carefully.

Turning to face her, I gave a small smile. "Yeah. They just...irritate the hell out of me." I forced a short laugh.

Felicity's face remained solemn. "I'm sorry she's turning out to be such a terrible friend for you."

"Honestly, that's not what bothers me," I told her. "I'm glad I have you now."

"I'm glad too, but still. It sucks to lose a friend. I'm sorry you have to go through that." The way her eyes stared into mine made it impossible to miss the sincerity in her words.

Shit, she was perfect. And I was...me. How was I supposed to be enough to match that? Hell, I was over here making her wait in the damn car while I pursued secret stuff in the woods. I wasn't even being anything close to honest with her.

As I stared into her eyes, I knew it. I wasn't looking forward to however it would go, but I knew it was time. So I asked, "Would you want to come to a bonfire with me and the guys tomorrow night?"

Felicity blinked, apparently not expecting the sudden invitation. But she recovered after only a moment and nodded, not having any idea that what she was agreeing to would change her entire view on the world. "Sure. I'd love to."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading - I hope you enjoyed it! I'll post the next chapter in a few days. In the meantime, I'd greatly appreciate it if you left a review with your thoughts! And again, thank you so much for taking the time to read Still Breathing! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, friends. Here it is. Chapter 15. Things are about to GET GOING. It's fun because literally none of you (that reviewed, anyway - and THANK YOU FOR FOREVER & ALWAYS for leaving reviews, you lovely people!) have guessed where this is going. So I hope you enjoy it? See you on the other side!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

 _Felicity_

Normally I was okay with working a lot of hours—I needed the money and for the most part it wasn't like I had anything better to do. But today of all days, I'd have preferred to not have to spend a few hours in the stupid grocery store.

I wanted to be at the bonfire already.

When Jacob had invited me yesterday, after his little meeting with _Bella_ , there was a serious depth to his eyes and I had a feeling that the bonfire was going to be important. My mind was blank on what could be planned to happen, but I was endlessly curious.

And since I had work until eight, I couldn't show up until after that, even though everyone else would start showing up around seven. I hoped whatever was going to happen waited until I arrived.

Around seven when I wanted to be gone from work already, therefore my mind was elsewhere as I stocked pasta noodles onto their shelves, a petite girl practically bounced down the aisle. She was accompanied by a tall blonde guy, and it took me a second—because my mind wouldn't stop spinning—to recognize them as Cullens.

"Hello," the girl chirped. "I'm Alice. This is Jasper. We were wondering if you'd like to come meet our family? Our father is a doctor."

Her words were...strange. Why would I want to go meet her family? Why would it matter that her dad was a doctor? As if everyone in town didn't know that already. I'd never felt inclined to meet him before. Besides, I didn't want to go anywhere but La Push, where _something_ was going to happen tonight. I needed to go and find out what that was.

Or...did I? Really? Because it was actually kind of really nice for Alice to come all this way to invite me over. Definitely an odd thing for a Cullen to do—other than Bella, they didn't have any close friends outside of the family. I was pretty lucky to have this opportunity. I needed to accept before it slipped away—

"Yes!" I said, excitement infusing my tone. "That'd be great. Just let me clock out real quick…" I put down the box of spaghetti noodles in my hand and absently strolled to do as I'd said. The manager in the office didn't even blink an eye, though my co-worker at the register was giving me a strange look. She obviously didn't understand how amazing this was.

Making it back to where I'd left them, I said, "Okay, I'm ready."

Alice smiled. "Great! Let's go." She led the way and I followed with Jasper trailing behind me.

The ride in their shiny car was a blur. Lots of trees. Zero talking. I'm not sure I blinked at all the entire trip there. But then we were in front of their ginormous house and I felt like all I could do was blink. And smile lazily. Could I feel my face? Was my face still there?

"Maybe a bit much, Jazz," Edward said as we stood in their living room—when did I get here? I thought I was outside.

"She didn't want to come with us," Jasper said. Was he talking about me? I wanted to be here!

"No, I do!" I told him eagerly, hoping he wouldn't send me home.

His expression went hard. "I know. We're not letting you go anywhere. Calm down."

I released a relieved breath. "Thank you."

A soft voice spoke up from a doorway across the room. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

My gaze snapped over to see a beautiful brunette frowning at me. A tall man I knew was Dr. Cullen stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not even a little curious?"

The woman bit her lip. "It's interesting…"

"And I'm sure it'll become more interesting very soon," he said with a smile. Then he stepped around her and approached me with his hand outstretched. "Hello, Felicity. I am Carlisle Cullen. Thank you for coming to visit us today."

I nodded quickly as I shook his—freezing cold—hand. "Oh yes, of course! Thank you for inviting me."

His smile was firmly in place as he tugged me toward stairs. "It's a pleasure. I was hoping you could help me with something."

"Help? How?" There was nothing I could do that would be doctor-caliber. What could he possibly need me for?

We went up sets of stairs to the third floor, stopping outside a room with the door closed. "I've become privy to some information about your...friend...Jacob Black."

I blinked. "Jacob?" What did he have to do with anything? He wasn't there. Was he?

"Yes. I don't believe you know it yet, but your dear friend is a werewolf."

I blinked again, my gaze resting on the closed door in front of us. Were we ever going to enter? "Oh wow. A werewolf? Are you sure? That sounds…"

"Crazy?" Dr. Cullen asked.

I nodded.

He chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it does. But I know for certain it's true. You new friend Jacob Black is a werewolf. So are some of his friends on the reservation, but that's not why you're here. You're here because of you and Jacob."

"Because I'm friends with him?" Everything was so confusing. My mind was foggy.

"Because you're his imprint," Dr. Cullen corrected.

I wanted to ask a question, but all that came out was a cough. This was so weird. What was even happening?

"An imprint," the doctor explained, luckily figuring out what I was trying to say, "is a soulmate. When the wolf meets his—or _her_ —imprint, they have an immense reaction that ties them to the happiness, wants, and needs of that person for eternity."

I sighed. "Wow." Jacob could not feel that for me. We were only friends. Nothing near as intense as what the doctor had described.

"You are definitely his imprint," Dr. Cullen said, as if reading my thoughts. He was very intuitive. "And since you are, I am quite interested in studying you."

My eyes widened. "Studying...me?"

He nodded. "Yes. An experiment, if you will. Or a whole string of them. So I can discover more about the making and capabilities of an imprint, particularly one on the side of a normal human such as yourself. The possibilities are quite fascinating. Will you be wholly normal and the connection only be soul deep? Or will your genes and blood and other bodily indicators show up abnormal? Will your connection be a mental and/or physical link to your wolf imprint? Will he know when and if you're in intense pain? There is so much to explore."

A shiver of fear began to crawl up my spine. I almost expected it to evaporate before I could fully feel it, but no. I was actually scared. "Intense pain?"

Dr. Cullen sighed. "Jasper had to go hunt, so he's unable to monitor your emotions. I apologize for any unhappiness you feel during the proceedings."

Then he opened the door in front of us to reveal a full-on hospital set up...with a whole slew of extra equipment that had terror creeping into my stomach.

"Just step right inside, please," he instructed, gesturing to the room.

I didn't move a muscle. No way would I voluntarily walk into that room.

But that did nothing to phase the doctor. He simply grabbed my arm and pushed me inside, following me in and shutting the door behind us.

"Alright," he said. "Let's begin."

* * *

 _Jacob_

Paul was an asshole. He knew Felicity was my imprint. So making sure she got food once she got here after work was my responsibility. But no, he made her a damn plate and was now guarding it like it was his purpose in life, taking over what I had been planning to do without any consideration for me at all.

"You're being stupid," he told me, biting into his cheeseburger.

My eyes narrowed. "You're being rude."

"You both need to stop bickering," Leah barked from across the fire. "Damn. Never thought I'd say this, but the girl needs to show up already so you two will be fucking quiet."

Elijah shifted in his seat next to Leah. "She should probably be here already. How late was she working until again?"

"Eight," Paul answered, beating me to it. Again. Shit.

"Yeah," Elijah said. "It's almost nine. I hope she's okay."

Leah sighed, irritation on her face but she seemed to be putting an effort to not snapping. Interesting. "Maybe she got out of work late. Or went home to change. Or some other reasonable explanation that doesn't require anyone freaking the fuck out."

Maybe she had a point, but I couldn't just sit there and wonder. So I stood up and said, "I'm going to see if I can find her."

Paul shoved the last bit of his food into his mouth and stood next to me. "I'll come along."

"What if she shows up here?" Elijah asked, appearing uncomfortable.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Then call one of us."

Elijah nodded and we left. "Where do you want to check first?" Paul asked me.

"The grocery store. It's where we know she was last—makes sense to start there."

We took my car, since neither of us wanted to shift and be out of contact from the others if Felicity showed up there. When we pulled into the parking lot of the store, both Paul and I focused right on the fact that Felicity's car was in a space. I parked next to it, relief beginning to fill me. I'd been trying to stay calm, but the idea that something could have actually happened to her was hard to keep at bay.

But her car was here. She was inside. "Let's go see what's up," I said.

Paul led the way inside—but froze just inside the doors. "Leech," he hissed quietly.

My eyes widened as I stepped inside...and instantly smelled exactly what he'd said. "The Cullens live in town," I said, attempting to remain rational. "Maybe they needed to buy something." Even though the words were coming out of my mouth, I didn't believe them. Something was wrong. A heaviness settled in my gut. Something was _seriously wrong_.

"Hey," Paul called to the girl working the register. "Is Felicity here?"

The girl raised her brows and popped her gum. "Nope. Left a couple of hours ago. I figured she quit."

I squinted. "Did something happen to make her quit?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. She was stocking some shelves, then two of Dr. Cullen's kids walked in. They talked for a few minutes, and then she clocked out and left with them. Didn't say a word to me. But normally when that kind of stuff happens, they're quitting. Her shift wasn't even over yet."

My hands began to shake. "Do you know where they went?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Nope," she answered unhelpfully.

Before I could snap at her, Paul grabbed my arm and dragged me outside. "Dude," Paul said once we were far enough away from the entrance that we had some semblance of privacy. "Freaking out at whatever-her-fucking-name-is won't help anything."

Tremors rolled through my entire body now. Felicity was gone. With the Cullens. They walked into the place where she worked and took her. Somehow. How did they even get her to go? They better not have hurt her.

The thought made my shaking increase.

"Jacob!" Paul shouted. "Listen to me." He punched my shoulder. Hard.

My attention flew to him. My lips curled in a snarl. Paul ignored it. "Here's what we're going to do. _You_ are going to go in those trees over there," he pointed to our left, "and shift. Then you're going to howl and alert and we'll all have a meeting on the rez. I'll drive your car to my place since it's closest and just to double check she's not there. I'll meet up with you guys after."

I shook my head. "She won't be there. I know it." And I did. I _knew_. She wasn't safe at home. She was with the damn Cullens going through fuck knew what.

Paul nodded. "Gotta check to be sure, man. Now go."

I didn't waste any more time arguing with him. Felicity was taken by the Cullens. We needed to help her, not stand around chatting. Shit. She didn't even know a single thing about wolves or imprinting yet and I was already failing. I hadn't kept her safe, hadn't protected her. Why did I let her work without someone there to keep an eye out? Why was I so fucking _stupid_?

My mind spun as I finally reached far enough in the trees to shift and I'd never phased easier. The wolf took over with almost no effort at all. Quil and Kai's thoughts started colliding with my own, and while Kai pretty much ignored me Quil asked, _What's up, man?_

A howl tore out of my throat without answering him. He could make sense of my thoughts if he wanted to know. I began sprinting toward the rez.

Sam's mind joined the group. _What's wrong?_

 _I think Felicity is missing_ , Quil answered, his thoughts uncertain. _Jake's going crazy._

 _Felicity is definitely missing_ , Sam responded. _Meet me._

I adjusted my direction to head to him. Quil and Kai abandoned patrolling and did the same, though Kai's fucking condescending thoughts of Felicity weren't helping anything.

 _You don't know what I know about her_ , Kai tried to defend himself. _I lived with her for years. She was nice at first, but then she turned into an honest-to-god bitch._

I snarled, picking up speed. I could tear a chunk out of the asshole's hide before going to get Felicity, right? Shouldn't slow me down too much.

 _No_ , Sam ordered. _You can't. And why would you say that shit, Kai? You must have a reason._ Apparently Sam was going for the reasonable approach of getting to the bottom of whatever was Felicity's stepbrother's actual problem.

I preferred the simple beating-the-shit-out-of-him approach. Not that anyone seemed to be on my side with that, based on their less than enthusiastic responses to my idea. More pack members were joining us, but they were trying to keep to themselves as we all made it to the meeting spot.

 _We were friends when our parents first got together_ , Kai told us. His mind whirred with flashbacks of them chatting and laughing, smiling and friendly. _Then she started to do messed up shit. She told my friends stuff I didn't want them to know. Sent rude notes to girls signed with my name so they wouldn't give me a second glance. She took whatever secrets I told her in confidence and made my life a living hell. So I stopped being friends with her and gave back to her as good as she gave to me. I fucking hate her._

None of that sounded like the Felicity I knew.

 _How did you know it was Felicity who did those things?_ Sam asked, remaining as diplomatic as possible.

 _She was the only one who knew some of it! How could someone else tell a secret only she and I knew?_ Kai demanded.

 _Easy_ , Leah said, her mind sorting through the images she'd gotten from Kai's head. _Your mother didn't want you to be friends with the girl so she made you hate her._

Kai snorted, leaning back on his legs as he waited with Sam and the others who'd already made it to the spot. _She wouldn't do that. My mother isn't a saint, but she does love me._

 _You're being stupid,_ Leah told him. _Your mom has always hated her. She turned the girl's own father against her. You don't think she'd do that with her son too?_

For some reason, that actually sunk in. But then he said, _How would you even know?_

I finally made it to the spot and saw Leah's wolf huff. _I'm imprinted to her ex-husband who still cares about her fucking well-being. He's had a lot to say and talk through. I listen. And I'm not an idiot._

Kai had no response to that and Sam spoke then, _So she's missing? Where's Paul?_

Just then Paul phased in. _Almost there. I ran some in human form since there were some dumbass teenagers poking around in the woods._

 _Did you find her?_ I asked, unable to stop myself from sounding hopeful even though I knew in my gut what his answer would be.

 _No, man, sorry._ He skidded to a stop next to Embry. _She wasn't at our place_.

Sam growled. _So we need to find her._

 _Actually_ , Paul said, _we already know where she is. Jake didn't tell you?_

 _His mind is a fucking minefield of angst right now,_ Leah scoffed. _Plus we had a heart to heart with Kai about his hatred of Jake's imprint. We didn't get the chance to dig through his brain._

 _Enough_ , Sam said. _Where is she?_

I began to growl, my entire wolf body shaking with the fury running through my veins. _The Cullens took her._

* * *

 **Soooooooo. What do you think? Did you like it? Hate it? Meh? It'd make my day if you left a review with your thoughts! Chapter 16 should be posted early next week (Monday or Tuesday)! Until then, thank you all so much for reading! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wow, y'all. The response to the last chapter was huge. Thank you SO much to everyone who left a review. And to everyone who's followed and favorited. Thank you for reading my story. Hopefully you continue to like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen**

 _Jacob_

The pack mind went into an uproar. It was a mess of chaos and fury. A howl ripped out of someone's throat—and it couldn't have been mine because I was stuck in an ongoing growl, my entire body trembling. I wanted to tear something apart.

Someone.

A Cullen.

Or many of them.

Whatever it took.

Finally, Sam restored order amongst us with an order, _ENOUGH! SILENCE!_

Unable to deny the rumble in his demand, we all shut the fuck up. Paul's entire body flattened to the ground against the order he was so agitated.

 _We need to remain rational,_ Sam said. _So first things first: how do you know the Cullens took her?_

The memory of the grocery store, chatting with the gum-popping girl, played in my head.

Sam drew in a deep breath. _Shit._

A wave of guilt spread over us. Tracing it to the source, we all turned to look at Kai. Of course. Fucking Kai. What did he do now?

He didn't answer the question we were all wondering. Instead, he asked, _How do we know this is bad? Maybe it's a friendly thing. Aren't they animal drinkers. It's not like they stole her to drain her._

Paul snorted. _They're vampires. Not our friends._

 _If they wanted this to be friendly they would have been up front about inviting her over instead of taking her when none of us were around,_ Leah said. This was strange. Since when was she the reasonable one? Normally she was just a raging bitch.

 _I resent that,_ she said, but she didn't seem too offended.

Sam brought us all back to the topic at hand. _Why are you feeling guilty, Kai?_

Kai shifted back, bracing for backlash...because apparently what he was about to say would result in some? My hackles rose. _I may have mentioned to the little one that Felicity would be working tonight...and that everyone else had plans on the rez._

No one did anything for a moment. Then Embry asked, _What?_

 _I'm how the small bloodsucker knew she'd be at work with none of us around tonight. I didn't know they'd take her or anything, but I guess I kind of gave them information to do it._

 _Why?_ Was the only question that came to my mind. Sure he hated her, but to give the vamps any means at all to harm Felicity...I couldn't comprehend his reasoning. It was such a shitty thing to do.

Kai barked an attempted laugh. _I was_ trying _to be shitty. She was shitty to me, remember?_

 _Allegedly,_ Embry corrected.

 _Whatever._

Sam broke into the conversation then before it spiraled out of control. _Honestly? While giving them an easy ticket to finding her alone at work is an asshole thing to do, and you will be running extra patrols for that, I don't think it would have changed anything. If the Cullens wanted to take her, they'd have found an opportunity to do so. Kai just saved them the time it'd have taken to figure it out._

 _Honestly?_ I said, my patience running low. _None of this stupid shit fucking matters right now. My imprint is there with them going through fuck knows what and what are we doing? Sitting here talking? No. We need to_ do something. _We need to stop wasting time._

Sam nodded. _He's right. So_ —

A breeze prickled all of our attention then, the scent of vampire burning our nostrils. We all jumped to attention, facing the direction of where the vamp was rapidly approaching.

We were gearing for attack, but a voice called out, "Calm down, mutts, we're here to help."

Then two bloodsuckers stopped in our view at the other end of the clearing, one large with lots of muscles and dark hair and the other one a knockout gorgeous blonde—well, knockout gorgeous if you could ignore the fact that she wholly survived off of blood from other species. Far enough away that they probably thought they'd have been able to get away if we decided to rip them to shreds instead of listen to them.

They'd have been wrong.

But Sam told us, _Stand down. No one do anything unless I tell you so. I'm going to go shift so I can communicate with them._

Sam went and did that while the rest of us kept our eyes trained on the two vampires standing only a few feet away. Hell, their stances were casual—as if this was just any other day. Did they really have that little of an idea of how much danger they were in? If we wanted them to be dead, they would be. Easily. All I'd have to do was—

 _Jacob?_ Paul said.

 _Yeah?_

 _Shut the fuck up, will you? No one needs your plot for dismemberment right now. We need to stay calm. Not get worked into a murder frenzy._

I didn't say anything in response, though he did have a point so I tried to keep my mind blank instead since the only other thing I could think about was Felicity and that landmine wouldn't help keep me calm at the moment. Luckily Sam only took another moment to reappear from the trees he'd strode into.

"You're Cullens," he said, getting right to the point. "I'm assuming you have a good reason for breaking the treaty?"

The big Cullen snorted. "Yeah," he said, his voice a rumble. "We have a good reason."

"Does the name Felicity mean anything to you?" the blonde asked.

I couldn't help myself—a snarl seethed through my lips. Sam cut me a hard look, though, and I got it back under control as my mind screamed, _Felicity, FELICITY…_

Sam didn't play any games. He just answered, "You know it does."

The blonde nodded. "I figured, but I had to check."

"Your family has her," Sam said.

She shook her head. "Not the whole family. Just Carlisle. And Alice. And an unwilling Jasper. And a compliant Edward. But the rest of us aren't okay with it."

"You said you're here to help us," Sam reminded them.

"Right," the big guy said. "Carlisle's gone fucking psychotic. Experimenting on what an imprint bond can do, how it looks in a human's DNA and shit. It's crazy."

"So we want to help you get her out," Blondie added.

Sam nodded. "That's great. How?"

Big Guy grimaced. "We're still figuring that out."

"How exactly are you helpful to us with zero plan?" Sam asked, on the edge of losing his patience. He tried to keep a level head in serious situations and normally succeeded, but he was more serious about protecting imprints than anything—probably because he had his own and knew how important they were. If there was anything that would set him off, it was an imprint in danger.

"Because we figure it's easier for us to get her out and bring her to you than you sneak in and grab her," Blondie snapped. "We just aren't certain about the logistics. Carlisle _is_ pretty crazy about this right now. We don't know when he'll give an opening to take her."

Sam blinked. "Then we go in, kill him and anyone else who stands in our way, and take her ourselves. We're not going to leave her there with him doing whatever he's doing—you said something about _experiments_? Fuck no. She's getting out of there as soon as we are organized enough to make it happen."

She nodded as if she expected that response, sharing a look with Big Guy. "Fine. Then we'll help you with that."

A cell phone started ringing before any further discussion could be had.

Blondie pulled it out of her pocket and answered. "Esme?"

The voice speaking on the other end was quiet and speedy, so I only caught words here and there. " _The girl...call him...he'll help...you can...leave...not right, Rosalie…"_

"Okay, okay," Blondie said hurriedly. "We have a plan."

" _Hurry_ ," the other voice said before the line went dead.

"We have to go," Big Guy said. "We have to go get her now. Esme's going to create a distraction to get Carlisle out of the house for a little while. We'll bring her back for you."

They turned to leave, and Sam stepped forward after them. "And we're just supposed to trust that?"

"Sure," he said, pausing to look back.

Blondie paused too, her expression serious as she faced Sam. "You know we don't feed on humans. We have no desire to harm humans. We're not going to sit by and let one be tortured while we can do something to help. So yes, you can trust us." Her eyes flickered to me. "Especially with that weird imprint thing you've got. We don't want to have a hand in losing a soulmate or whatever." She peeked over at Big Guy with a frown.

Sam studied them for a moment, weighing our options. Really, though, we only had one. And Sam knew it. So he said, "Alright. But meet us at the border closest to your home. We'll leave the treaty in place...for now. I can't promise we won't later retaliate for taking one of our own, however."

Big Guy nodded with a smile, dimples flashing. "That's fair. Let's worry about getting Felicity out before anything else."

And that was all before they turned and sprinted away, leaving us alone in the clearing. Sam pulled in a deep breath. Then he faced us and said, "Jacob, Paul, shift back and get dressed. Get a car and park it close to where we're going to meet—the closest point of our land to the Cullen mansion. I'll shift and patrol around there with Jared. Everyone else patrol the rest of the border—don't let anything slip through while we're focusing on getting Felicity home safe. Understood?"

No one protested. I kind of wished I would be staying in my wolf form, because I was so agitated keeping human form was going to be damn tough, but I also wanted to be the one to help her once she was back with us. Then again, I was the reason she had been taken in the first place.

 _That's bullshit,_ Kai said.

I glared at him. _You have no right say a single thing right now, asshole._

 _I can call out bullshit when I see it. It's not your fault Carlisle Cullen is a crazy motherfucker._

 _Did you not hear what they said?_ I asked, trying to hold back a growl. We didn't have time for an actual fight right now. _He was testing her about imprint shit. I'm her imprint_

 _And did you force the imprint to happen? Ask for it? Want it?_

...No, actually. I'd never asked for an imprint. Not since I'd seen Bella after shifting and realized she wasn't mine. From then on, I'd actively hoped _not_ to find one so I could be with her. It was stupid, now that I looked back on it. I had no idea what I was missing. How great of a person I'd later find, and that she'd be _mine_ —perfect for me. And why had I been so ready to hook my star to Bella? She'd dropped me the moment there was even a hint of possibility she'd get Edward back. I was beyond lucky to have Felicity, a fact I was aware of now, but before I'd imprinted on her I hadn't ever asked for it.

 _Since when are you the voice of reason, asshole?_ Leah asked. _You've been around for like five minutes and you've only caused arguments._

Paul rolled his eyes. _Since when are_ you _a voice of reason, Leah? You're usually a raging bitch._

 _Start moving!_ Sam ordered, cutting into what was sure to be a string of banter and causing us to jump into action, which was good.

We had to get Felicity back.

We didn't have any time to waste.

* * *

 _Felicity_

It was debatable, but this might have started out somewhat bearable if not for the fact that I absolutely _hated_ needles. Dr. Cullen's first hour at least was spent with scientific lab stuff. Nothing I was interested in or understood, and he didn't take the time to explain any of it to me even though he muttered random findings to himself every now and then. Every test was accompanied by a needle in me, drawing blood or marrow or so-and-so-fluid.

Disgusting is what it all was.

But I was literally strapped to this stupid table, unable to go anywhere regardless of how hard I tried.

And tried I did for the first little while, but then I got tired. So now I simply laid there, exhausted, as the doctor continued to do as he pleased.

After the scientific data was collected, the doctor got more philosophical. How connected am I and my imprint? He asked. And to find out, he used pain.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

First it was nothing. Just taps on my knee. A small prick on my fingers, my toes.

But now I was laying on the table while he stitched my stomach closed after slicing it open.

He'd been disappointed when that caused nothing. He'd given me zero help coping with the pain, hoping it'd trigger a response in Jacob somehow. I wasn't quite sure what he expected—Jacob to come barging through the door clutching his own abdomen? To receive a phone call with news that Jacob was fallen on the ground bleeding out from a mysterious stomach wound? None of it was logical.

Even now, he was stitching me up without any care to the fact that this fucking _hurt_. I wanted to sleep but every time my eyelids drooped he snapped me back awake. His cold hands lightly, and then more violently, slapping my face, worked wonders.

He sat back in his chair, apparently finished stitching me closed. I couldn't look to confirm, since I was still strapped tight to the table. Dr. Cullen sighed. "I'd have preferred to stay away from extremes, but since nothing has worked so far I'm afraid that is no longer an option."

My eyes widened. Slicing me open wasn't extreme? "What?" I rasped.

"I'm sorry, Felicity, but I'm going to have to—" he was interrupted from whatever nightmare fuel thing he was about to say by his phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered. "Yes, love?"

He was quiet for a moment, focused on listening. I took the chance with his attention off of me to just breathe. I couldn't do anything more at this point. My energy was depleted. First from trying to break free, then from the doctor's pain tests. All I was ready for at the moment was a nap. But he wouldn't let me have that, so I drew in some deep breaths, as steady as I could make them.

Someone would come for me. They had to. Jacob was a werewolf. His friends were too. They had to know I was gone, and there was no way they'd leave me here. Especially if Dr. Cullen was right about the imprint thing. Jacob and I were bonded somehow. Not the way the doctor thought we were, obviously, but in some way. He wouldn't leave me here to be tested on until the doctor grew tired of me, right?

"I'm in the middle of—" Dr. Cullen said then, sounding a small bit impatient. Then he sighed. "Alright. I'm on my way." He tapped his phone to hang up before looking at me. "I have to step out for a few minutes. You'll be fine here until I return. It'd be easiest if you remain awake, otherwise I'll have to wake you up when we resume. Understand?"

I nodded, not willing to force a croaking yes. Never before had I wanted to hate anyone as much as I wanted to hate this man.

He smiled tightly. "Good. I'll be back." He stood and turned on his heel, closing the door behind him as he exited the room.

My gaze located a spot on the ceiling and stayed there. This time would probably have been great to use for plotting escape. But my mind was as weak as my body at that point. I felt _exhausted_. All I could do was stare at the ceiling and breathe.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

Until the door opened and a soft voice said, "Felicity?"

* * *

 **And that's chapter 16! What do you think? It would make my day if you left me a review with your thoughts! I'm going on a trip tomorrow (I have to leave super early in the morning actually, which is why my author's notes are brief today - I need to go to sleep!) and I'll be gone until next Tuesday, so I unfortunately won't be able to post the next chapter until then. I'm sorry for the wait, but I hope you all have a great week in the meantime! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long wait after last chapter's cliffhanger. As I said at the end of chapter 16, I was on a trip for the past week so I haven't been able to update until I got home - aka, today! So yeah. Here's chapter 17. I don't know what else to say. I feel like there are a lot of expectations, which makes me nervous. I'm LOVING reading y'all's reviews, though. Thank you so much for leaving them. And to everyone who follows and favorites, too. I appreciate you so very much. Thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

 _Felicity_

"Felicity?" the soft voice said again, the door still opening slowly and silently. I was already unable to move, but my eyes were stuck open now. I was afraid to even blink.

A kind face moved into view, leaning over me. If at all possible, my eyes stretched open even wider in shock. Was this lady going to hurt me too now that Carlisle was gone?

"Hello, Felicity," the woman said, her voice gentle. I didn't let my guard down—Carlisle was calm, cool, collected, and even gentle too. It meant nothing. "I'm Esme. I am so sorry for what has been happening with you up here, but I'm going to help get you out, okay?" She paused, but didn't give me enough time to pull myself together and respond. Instead, she kept speaking, "We don't have much time, so I need you to listen to me. Hold still while I get you unattached from…all of this."

I didn't know if she was exactly telling the truth, but I wasn't in a position to be picky. Nor was I in a position to fight her. So I laid there, allowing Esme to undo the ties at my wrists and extract me from whatever Carlisle had me hooked up to. My only goal throughout this was to keep breathing. In and out. In, out.

Breathe.

Keep breathing.

In what seemed like a blink but I knew was a few minutes of careful maneuvering, Esme spoke again. "I'm going to lift you. We need to be silent."

Again, I said nothing. I wasn't sure I could have said anything even if I'd tried. I definitely couldn't walk, so it was good she planned on carrying me. I could try but I had a gut feeling I'd have fallen flat on my face. That wouldn't be helpful to the whole _being silent_ objective.

Esme, a woman who was not exactly large, slid her arms underneath me and lifted me up as if I were a feather. Or a pillow. Or something else that doesn't weigh nearly as much as I actually did— _how?_ I didn't ask aloud, though, and Esme wasn't exactly stopping to explain her strangely proficient strength to me.

No, she was moving, her steps fluid and graceful. She carried me to the door, pausing in the doorway before turning left out of the room. She paused again before taking us down some stairs. A lot of stairs, actually. Entering their house was a blur I couldn't remember very well, but it was hitting me that their house was _huge_. I'd never have been able to find my own way out if I'd managed to get myself free earlier. I began counting my lucky stars I was getting help now.

"What are you doing?" a male voice asked when we made it to the bottom of the stairs, and I shoved my figurative foot in my mental mouth because it had been way too early to begin counting myself lucky and now I'd jinxed us.

Esme froze but didn't sound worried when she replied, "You know what I'm doing. This isn't right."

Slowly, I turned my head to the side so I could see who was in our way. It was…a guy I was certain I knew but I couldn't remember his name. He'd been at the grocery store. He was one of the people who brought me here. A shiver of fear hit me.

He looked directly into my eyes. "You are right to be afraid. I am not your friend. You shouldn't be here."

" _Jasper_ ," Esme hissed.

He—Jasper—didn't even spare her a glance. His gaze was all for me. This did not exactly make me comfortable. "Remember, spending your time with those unlike you, those that are made to be predators to your kind, is unwise. Reassess your friends. Make yourself safe. Understood?"

Honestly, I was wholly confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. But no way would I dare to do anything but agree with him, so I slowly nodded. The movement sent a pain through my neck so I stopped after one head bob. Hopefully he got the point.

"Good. And Esme is right—Carlisle should have left you alone. You were trying to mind your own business. I apologize for the part I played in this. But take my words to heart, so as to avoid anything like this in the future. You may not turn out so lucky."

I wasn't eager to nod again, so I simply blinked at him.

"Get her out of here," he told Esme, exiting the room and leaving us to our own devices.

Esme wasted no time in striding across the room and out the door. Outside, we were literally surrounded by trees. Everywhere. Walls of green and brown. It was even more obvious that any attempt I'd have made at trying to escape myself would have been not only futile—it would have been embarrassingly pathetic. I was tempted to begin counting my lucky stars again, but refrained since the last time hadn't turned out particularly well.

After a few minutes of walking through the woods, Esme stopped. Personally, I had no idea where we were. Esme hadn't taken us on some sort of path, thus giving an idea of which way was the correct way to go. She'd walked right through the trees, apparently having some sense of direction without any help. But she stopped, and the place where she stopped didn't seem to have any significance. Maybe she hadn't actually known where she was going and now we were lost? That'd suck.

But then the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my entire life stepped into view. She was blond and absolutely _stunning_. For a moment I wondered if I'd died and was now in heaven, staring at the most lovely of angels. It was literally all I could do to watch her, unblinking. Which was probably creepy but I couldn't help myself.

"Carlisle will be back soon," Esme said, snapping me out of my trance. No heaven then. The blonde was a real person who was seriously that gorgeous. Actually, now that my mind was working I realized that I'd seen the blonde before. She used to go to my school.

She was another Cullen.

Perfect.

Because our last run in with one was such a joy.

She didn't seem to be trying to stop us, though. She just nodded and held her arms out. "I'll take her the rest of the way. You go back. Emmett's on his way there now."

"Are you sure?" Esme asked hesitantly.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I can handle a few cranky wolves. It's not like _I'm_ the one that took her."

Esme nodded. "Alright." Then she stepped forward and I went from Esme's arms to being cradled against the blonde's front. How in the world were these ladies carrying me as if I weighed nothing? Did they just carry their own weight on a regular basis so this was nothing out of the norm for them? Because wow.

"You'll be okay," Esme murmured, touching my cheek gently before smiling at the blonde and turning around. Then she…disappeared. One second she was there, the next she was gone.

I didn't know all of what was going on right now—my mind was muddled and full of confusion…but something told me that the Cullens weren't regular people.

At some point, I'd think hard about that, but for now I peered up at the blonde.

She was already walking through the forest, but her eyes weren't on where we were going. They were on me. As if she didn't need to look ahead to not crash into any trees or anything. Another little tidbit I packed away in my brain for later.

"You know, you really have the worst luck," she said conversationally.

Coughing a little, I cleared my throat so I could answer her. "Yeah." Even though it was only one word, my voice as a total croak. Wonderful.

She smirked. "I'm Rosalie, by the way. Not that I look forward to seeing you again ever."

I blinked. "Okay." I paused, unsure if I should even try to say anything again after that most welcoming introduction. Was it worth the effort when my voice was so hoarse and Rosalie was so uninterested? I decided yes, since she was taking the time to help get me away from Carlisle and his _testing._ "I'm Felicity."

"I know." She pursed her lips. "I don't have a problem with you, specifically. I'm just not a fan of humans throwing themselves into danger with no regard for their lives or futures. It's reckless and, frankly, inconsiderate. You're so young and…" she trailed off, huffing out a breath. "You don't really deserve my frustration, though. You didn't know what you were getting into. You probably still don't. But I hope when you learn, you think long and hard before making a decision. And I hope when you make that decision that it's a smart one."

"You're right," I said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. But later, when things start making sense again I'll remember this." I'd also remember her use of the word _humans_ …as if she wasn't one herself.

A small smile lit her face, making her even more beautiful—if that was even possible. "That's all I ask."

"Okay, now I have a question," I asked, then coughed.

Her brows lifted. "Yes?"

"How is it possible to be so beautiful? You're real, right? I'm not dead? So _how_?"

Rosalie's face took on a large smile now as she laughed—a laugh that was, of course, the most gorgeous sound I'd heard in my whole life. "You're alive. And I appreciate the compliment."

It did not go unnoticed by me that she'd sidestepped the question, but before I could even try to press, Rosalie stopped walking.

And right there, a few feet away, was Jacob Black.

* * *

 _Jacob_

"I don't get it," Paul complained, kicking at the dirt as he leaned against a tree. "They're vampires. They use their fucking speed for everything else, but now they decide to take forever? Bullshit."

Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair for what had to be the millionth time since Paul and I made it to the meet stop. Paul was resting against a tree and bitching while I was pacing and trying to keep in my human skin. This was how Felicity needed me. I'd be zero help as a wolf once she made it here. But Paul's constant stream of complaints didn't do much of anything to help keep me calm.

"Could you shut up? I'm trying not to shake out of my fucking skin over here."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm pissed too. This is ridiculous."

I glared at him. "At least it's not _your_ imprint. Someday you're going to have one, and when you think back on this imagine being me in this situation. It isn't exactly fun." Actually, it hurt. My chest hurt, my gut hurt, and it sounded wimpy but my heart hurt. My imprint was in a terrible situation and not only was I not there to help her, but I was the reason for her to be in the situation in the first place. What kind of a sucky match for her was I? She'd have been better off with literally anyone else. They wouldn't have put her directly in the Cullens' attention by having a stupid hang up with Isabella Swan.

"Whoa, man," Paul said, stepping into my path, where I had not stopped pacing, and slapping my shoulder lightly. "She's on her way here. She'll be okay. We'll make sure of it—all of us. This isn't all on you. Breathe."

Debating whose fault this was and whose job it was to fix this mess was not a task I was up to, but I took his advice and pulled in a breath. All I had to do was breathe for now. She'd be here soon and I could help her then, but for now I just needed to breathe.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

And then the sharp scent of vampire invaded my nostrils and my head snapped up.

Blondie was standing on the cusp of our land, toeing the line—and in her arms, blinking at me like she was shocked to see me standing only a handful of steps away, was Felicity.

* * *

 **Okay, so what'd you think? I'll post the next chapter soon! Thank you for reading! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi, everyone! Here I am, back again with another chapter. Before I leave y'all to it, though, a few things:**

 **1) Some of you have noticed that I'm not replying to reviews anymore. Why? A few reasons. Time, for one. But also because I'm finished writing this story and it makes me nervous to think of replying to reviews with such huge expectations when I know things aren't going where people may want them to go. Another reason is...well, not everyone is loving where the story is going. And that's okay. But a) I'm not going to reply to negative reviews and b) I don't want anyone to feel like they can't post unflattering thoughts about my story because I'm going to reply to them. Does that make sense? So as of now, I'm not replying to reviews unless they ask me a question.**

 **2) Just because I'm not replying to reviews does not mean I'm not reading them. I read every single one. And I love them all! Even the ones that ended up hating where I took the story. The fact that anyone took the time to get this far is awesome. Thank you all.**

 **3) For those of you not liking how I'm portraying Bella and the Cullens in this story: my next story has Bella as the MC and is Cullen-centered! So maybe come back around when I start posting that? I'm not making them evil in that one. I'm actually trying to make them in character (to the best of my ability, that is).**

 **4) I know I had more to say...but I can't think of it. So I'll leave you all to read the chapter now. Only two more chapters after this one! I hope you like it! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 _Felicity_

For a moment, we stared at each other. Jacob's face went through an array of emotions, but mostly he seemed relieved. I wondered if he knew the answers to all the strange things I'd been noticing. Like Rosalie's use of the word _humans_ and her and Esme's abnormal strength. Then again, if anything that had happened in the last few hours was to be believed, then Jacob was…a werewolf.

Nope. I stopped my thoughts right there. Now was so not the time to dwell on that. I was out of that house, away from Dr. Cullen, and for now I was going to relish my luck. Surely it was time to count those lucky stars, yes?

Jacob stepped forward, bridging the gap to stand right in front of Rosalie and me. He seemed hesitant once he got there, unsure what to do.

"Well?" Rosalie said. "She's yours, right? Take her."

Jacob pulled in a deep breath, his chest visibly lifting. "Is she okay?"

I was too busy staring at Jacob to see but I guessed Rosalie rolled her eyes. Her voice was definitely full of attitude when she said, "Ask her. She's literally right in front of you. Pull your head out of your ass and take her, then _talk_ to her."

"Hate to say it," Paul's voice said from a few feet away and I flinched. I hadn't noticed him there. "But the vamp is right. Take her and let's go." He smiled at me. "Glad you're back, doll."

Maybe I smiled back. Maybe my lips just twitched. Either way, I tried and that was all the response he was getting because I decidedly needed a nap. A long one.

"Okay," Jacob murmured. He reached forward, trying to grab me as gently as possible. Rosalie wasn't patient with him, though. She practically dropped me in his arms, and I huffed a little as I was jarred. Hopefully after I got my nap I wouldn't be so sore—but I didn't get my hopes up. It'd probably take days at the very least to feel better. Still, a girl could dream.

Rosalie said, "We'll talk to Carlisle. Either we'll leave or he'll back off, but we definitely won't bother you again. You should keep a better eye on your people anyway. Step it up, pups." Then she turned around and…disappeared. Just like Esme had. The Cullens clearly were not normal.

Neither Jacob nor Paul seemed surprised at Rosalie vanishing. Apparently they were used to such behavior? Not that I should have been shocked at this. They were—

No. Not now. Now was not the time.

Now I was cradled in Jacob's arms and he was looking down at me, his expression conflicted. "Felicity," he breathed. "Are you okay?"

I frowned. What kind of a question was that? "I'm sore. And I'm tired. I need a nap."

Paul laughed. "I think we can arrange that."

Jacob cut a glare Paul's way. "Sore? What did they do to you?"

My mind ran over what had happened at the Cullen residence. The run of the mill tests that were mostly innocuous but I knew once they sunk in that later I'd feel invaded. Then the pain…the logic of which still confounded me. But my stomach was currently stitched up. I'd have a scar. I'd somehow almost forgotten that had happened—in all the soreness, that particular pain didn't currently stand out. I remembered now, my face drawing tight.

"Maybe now isn't the time for that," Paul said quietly.

"Yeah," I croaked. "Nap first. Can I talk later?" I peered up at Jacob, my gaze probably pleading.

Jacob wasted no time nodding. "Yes. Yes, of course. Later. For now, let's get you to Sam's house. We can get you comfortable there."

Quickly, I shook my head, ignoring how the movement hurt. "No. I want to go home."

His brows rose. "We'll be able to take better care of you at Sam and Emily's. That's where everyone will be, and—"

" _No_ ," I repeated, more firmly this time. I wasn't sure how I felt about the werewolf revelation, and until I could process it all and talk to Jacob about it I didn't want to be surrounded by them. Because if Sam and Paul changed into wolves, then their closest friends had to also, right? That was a reasonable conclusion. Not that I wanted to be making any conclusions at present. "Please. I just want to go home. I'll nap in my own bed. Please."

Jacob's arms tightened around me and his tone sounded choked as he said, "Yes. Anything. We'll take you home right now." He started walking. Since we were still in the middle of the woods, I had no idea where we were going. Or where we were, exactly. Not that it mattered—Jacob clearly knew where he was going.

Paul followed us, eyeing Jacob and me with concern. For probably the first time since he learned how to speak, however, Paul didn't say anything.

After a few minutes of walking, we exited the trees and there, lo and behold, was Jacob's Volkswagen. Paul strode ahead of us and opened the door. Jacob tucked me into the seat carefully, reaching over my lap and buckling me up. Once he'd done that, I settled down in the seat. I felt like we were at a point where I could relax. I was away from the Cullen house, out of the woods, and safe in Jacob's car. Jacob and Paul were standing right outside the car chatting.

I was okay.

I could rest now.

So I closed my eyes, breathed in. Breathed out.

And I relaxed.

* * *

 _Jacob_

She was okay. She was here and she was in one piece and she was _okay_.

Well, maybe not completely. She said she was sore. I had no idea what the bloodsuckers had done to her, but based on her face when I'd asked, it couldn't have been good. Not that I'd expect anything they did to be good. She was sore and skittish, in a sluggish way.

"We won't know anything until she gets some rest, gets her head together, and _tells_ us," Paul said in a low voice as we stood outside my Rabbit.

"Something isn't right, though. It's not just me overreacting?" I asked, needing reassurance. I couldn't mess this up. My imprint needed me, and she needed me with a level head. I couldn't let my worry cloud my judgement.

Paul shook his head. "Obviously something's wrong. But what I'm saying is she'll be alright. Give her time."

I sighed. He was right. I hated that he was—why did he get to be reasonable? Why couldn't I be that way? Instead, I was shaky and my breath kept trying to come too fast. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. I adored my imprint, but this sucked. Big time. Then again, she wasn't exactly enduring a walk in the park right now either. I needed to stop thinking about me and start focusing on her. "Okay. I'll take her to your apartment. You riding along or are you going to shift and run?"

He snorted. "I'm in the car with you. No way you'll be able to keep it together alone."

"Whatever," I said because he was right.

We went to get in the car and I froze, standing inside my open door.

Felicity was in her seat, eyes closed. I watched her for a second, waiting…her chest rose and fell. She was breathing. She was okay. She'd just gotten a head start on that nap she'd asked for. I could deal with that. Actually, it was good.

Good.

She was okay, she was sleeping, and it was good.

Leaving my thoughts at that, I climbed into the car and turned the key in the ignition. The ride to Felicity's place was silent. Mostly I was too focused on listening to her breathe to try making conversation. There were things that needed to be done—someone had to call Sam and give him an update, the Cullens needed to be checked on since I didn't trust that blonde leech as far as I could throw her, we probably needed a doctor or something to come and check up on Felicity because spirits only knew what could possibly be wrong with her after her ordeal… My mind was spinning with the list.

But for now, the forefront of it all was occupied with my imprint. Right next to me. Breathing.

When we parked, Paul got out and went ahead of us, opening doors and pulling down the covers on her bed so I could nestle her in easily. Even after she was tucked in snug as a bug I kneeled beside the bed and watched her sleep. Watched her chest rise and fall.

It wasn't until Paul hissed quietly at me to stop being a creepy fuck that I pulled myself away from her bedside, instead locating myself in her living room. Where, naturally, I paced.

"Have you called Sam?" I asked, hoping we had one thing we could cross off our list of shit to do.

"Yeah. Told him she needed some privacy for a few. Everyone else will keep their distance for now. He also sent Jared and Embry to check up on the _Cullens_ ," he said their name with a sneer. "To make sure they were sticking to their word."

I raised a brow. "And?"

Paul shrugged. "Apparently there was nothing. No vamps, no trails, nothing. Just slowly fading stench."

"So they ran," I concluded.

"Looks like it," Paul agreed.

"What a loss." My voice was monotone.

Paul smiled. "They will be greatly missed."

A small smile took over my lips for a brief moment before evening back out. "I hope they didn't leave Charlie hanging this time like they did when they stole Bella away to Italy. I'm beyond caring what she does, but Charlie…"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Sucks for him and all, but I can't find it in me to give a rat's ass right now."

My mouth twitched. "Understandable."

He smirked at me. "And how are you holding it together enough to worry about your ex's dad? Felicity is _your_ imprint, you know."

"She's breathing," I said to him firmly, refusing to let him get me riled up. "We have her and she's safe. She's asleep in her bed. I can have some peace of mind."

"Whatever."

Paul turned the TV on and neither of us talked much after that. We took turns peeking in on Felicity to check that she was alright, even though we both had strong enough hearing to know she was safe and calm in her slumber just a room away. For hours we watched TV, kept tabs on Felicity, and ate our way through nearly everything in the kitchen.

She slept for so long Paul was getting antsy and I was wondering if I should have been worried.

But then she woke up. She did it quietly, with a soft sigh as she rolled out of bed and took a trip to the bathroom. By the time she exited the room, Paul and I were waiting impatiently outside the door.

"Oh!" she exclaimed with a flinch as she saw us standing there. "Make some noise, will you?"

"Are you okay?" I asked, unable to wait any longer. I knew she'd been through a lot and needed time, but I'd been patient all through her very long nap and now I was desperately seeking answers.

A low breath hissed out of her mouth. She bit her lip. "Let's go sit down before I get into all of this." Then she led the way to the living room, seating herself in a chair.

Paul and I took places on the couch, our eyes intent on her.

"So obviously you know that Dr. Cullen took me?" she said.

I nodded and Paul said, "Yes, but what did he do to you, doll?"

She wouldn't meet either of our eyes, but she told us. Everything. From when the two showed up and stole her from work, to the extremely invasive exams Dr. Cullen did on her, and finally to the pain test. It was at that point that she started to tremble.

I couldn't sit there and watch her shake without trying to soothe her. So I walked over to where she sat, lifted her, and sat down, settling her on my lap. My arms wrapped around her, tightly so she'd _feel_ she was safe. I'd let not a single thing hurt her. Never again.

But at my embrace, she winced. Just a little, but with how closely I was watching her I saw.

"What?" I asked, borderline frantic. "What's wrong?"

Her lips twisted unhappily. "The pain test. He cut me open to see if you'd feel it. And…well. Look." She pulled up her shirt to show her stomach.

 _My_ stomach heaved at the sight.

Stitches stretched across her stomach in a long, neat line.

"Why?" I choked out.

She shrugged. "I'm your imprint. I'm not sure what that means, but he said he wanted to test how imprints worked. I was his guinea pig."

I stared at her, both shocked and horrified. "Imprints—"

"Stop," she said, holding up a hand. "I don't want any explanations. I don't want to talk about it. I need to process first. But now you know everything that happened. You can pass it along to Sam and whoever and I can relax and thing and try really hard not to freak out."

I didn't know what to say, but Paul snorted. "I think you're allowed a freak out, doll."

She smiled at him. "Doesn't mean I want to have one, Paulie."

He grinned.

I was still speechless.

"Now," she said, wriggling to get out of my lap, "I think I want to try to eat something. Not sure I'll be able to keep anything down, but I'm so hungry I'm willing to try." Not waiting for a response, she strode toward the kitchen.

A moment of silence filled the room before Paul snorted again. "Your imprint, man. She's something else."

I had no idea how she would react once she did her _processing_ , but I couldn't help but be proud that she seemed to be aiming for rationality in this fucked up situation. And hell if Paul wasn't right. "Yeah," I said, my voice low and warm as I got to my feet to follow her. "She really is."

* * *

 **And that's it for this chapter! I'd love it if you left a review letting me know what you think. I'll post the next chapter soon! In the meantime, I hope y'all have a great day/evening/afternoon! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, lovely people! Another week, another chapter of Still Breathing. There's only one more chapter after this one! It's hard to believe we're finally making it to the end of this story - and it's amazing how many people have been reading this one and favoriting and following and reviewing...honestly, thank y'all so much. I mentioned negative reviews in my A/N last chapter, but I HAVE to mention that a mejority of reviews I get are so positive and encouraging and they honestly make me so unbelievably happy. So thank you all. THANK YOU.**

 **Now, I shall leave you with the chapter. I hope you like it! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen**

 _Felicity_

I was stalling. Kind of. I mean, I wasn't lying when I said I needed to process. I did need that. But my mind had enough of a grasp on it all to be full of questions—questions I was currently too much of a chicken to ask. Hence, the stalling.

So I sat in the kitchen table with Jacob and Paul pretending not to stare at me while I ate my way through a box of Cheez-Its. Not the healthiest of options, but the box was out on the counter and they looked good so they were fine for me.

Jacob pushed a bottle of water toward me after a few minutes, and I removed the lid and gulped down the liquid. I was such a mess I hadn't even noticed how thirsty I was. Lucky for me Jacob had my back. I pondered that as I munched on my snack. Jacob and I had clicked basically right away. Well, after we'd actually talked. Our first meeting didn't really count. Crashing into him in the hallway was just an unfortunate mishap. But once we'd talked and been civil with each other, then became friends…we clicked well. I couldn't deny that. Wasn't it so recently when I was wondering if I was falling for him? Maybe I wasn't wrong to be feeling so strongly for him so soon after Elijah. Maybe there was a _reason._

Dr. Cullen's ramblings about "imprinting" weren't exactly conclusive, however, so I had no idea. I was simply trying to make connections in my head. The only way to know for sure would be to ask Jacob.

But to ask Jacob about that, I had to also confront the very real possibility that Dr. Cullen hadn't been insane and was citing the truth when he said Jacob and his friends were werewolves. And that was the thing my mind wanted to reject. It was tough to even force myself to focus on it. How could a mythological creature be real? And how could I have so conveniently stumbled upon them as two of the people I was closest too?

That question alone brought my brain around again to the imprinting thing—I'd known Jacob for such a short time and he was already someone I was closest to? Being so close to Paul made sense, since we were literally living together at this point, but Jacob…

Sitting straighter in my chair, I decided to face this head on. No more chickening out. The sooner I asked questions and sorted my head out, the sooner things could go back to normal—or as close to it as possible.

"You're werewolves," I said firmly, shifting my stare between them and daring them to contradict me.

They glanced at each other. Paul shrugged. Jacob sighed. "Not exactly," Jacob said. "But we do turn into wolves."

That…had not been the answer I was expecting. The wind effectively blown out of my sails, I slumped in my chair. "Oh?"

He shook his head. "Werewolves implied needing some sort of trigger to change into the wolf. We're more like…shifters. We can phase whenever we want. Though it's harder to control when we're angry. If we get too angry it's actually impossible to control and we shift whether we want to or not. That hasn't been much of an issue lately, though," he added, as if I'd given any sort of reaction to the new information. In actuality I was just staring at him. "Sam was the first of us to change. He didn't really know much about the transformation or how it worked. So when he and Emily were arguing in their early days, he learned the hard way that anger made phasing uncontrollable."

Now I had a reaction as my eyes widened. "Emily's scars."

Jacob nodded. "Yes."

Paul inserted himself into the conversation. "I actually had a little lapse not too long ago, too. I didn't hurt anybody, but I did phase kind of near Bella Swan. It was dangerous. In theory. I wouldn't have hurt her, but the rest of the pack thought otherwise."

I looked at him, tilting my head to the side. "Why would you tell me that?"

One side of his lips tipped up in a half smile. "We're BFFs and talking about rooming together and all, I've gotta be honest with you, doll."

My own lips quirked up a tad in response. "Okay."

"Did one of the Cullens tell you about us?" Jacob asked tensely.

"Yes," I answered. "The doctor. He said…a lot of things. Not many of them made sense. Which is why I'm asking you."

"Good," Jacob said, almost too quickly. "I'm glad."

Paul snorted. "This guy is a mess."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because he—" Paul started.

"Shut up," Jacob warned, cutting him off. Then his voice gentled as he said to me, "I'm just…I don't know how to say any of this. It's a lot. It's too much. What he did to you and now to drop this shit on you…"

I shrugged. "Well, I already know the biggest stuff. You turn into wolves, and you've imprinted on me. Now you only need to tell me what those things _mean_."

"The wolf thing was going to be explained at the bonfire," Jacob admitted quietly.

I couldn't refrain from frowning at the reminder of the get together I'd been so excited about. I _had_ thought I'd get my answers to whatever it was I knew was being kept from me that night. Apparently I was correct. If only things had gone as planned.

"We'll have another bonfire soon," Paul offered. "Jake's dad will tell the legends, which is how we explain things to all the imprints, and you'll be completely in the know. It'll all be good, doll. I promise."

And just like that I couldn't help but smile. Paul could be inappropriate and rude, but he was really a big softy. "Okay. So about the imprinting thing…"

Paul pointed to Jacob. "He can tell you all about that without my help. I'm useless here." And with that, he snatched up my Cheez-Its box and practically ran from from the room.

* * *

 _Jacob_

 _Such a fucking wimp_ , I thought as I watched Paul's back while he rushed away. Not that I could claim to be any better since he was doing exactly what I wished I could. This was the conversation I'd been most dreading. The wolf thing was a kicker, but the _imprinting_ thing? "Oh, hey, I know we only met a few weeks ago, but I'm the person made for you—want to be my significant other for life?" Shit. Who would react well to that?

I hissed out a long breath, trying and failing to think of some way to distract Felicity. But she was watching me. Waiting for an answer. "I'm nervous," I admitted.

Her eyes twinkled a little, her expression conveying sympathy. "Nothing to fear from me."

"Except your immediate rejection," I muttered.

Felicity squinted, her face scrunching up in confusion. "It's not like you're on trial here, Jacob. I just want to understand. We'll be friends no matter what. I'm not judging you based on what you're about to explain to me. I just _need to know_."

She looked so sincere. She _sounded_ so sincere. But it was her telling me she needed to know that got me. I couldn't try to sidetrack anymore. "Imprinting is…" My mind searched for the best way to word this. "It's the way a wolf finds his perfect match. The easiest way to explain it is kind of like love at first sight, but it's more than that. And less limited. When we see our imprint, that's it. They're the only thing that matters. Sam's said it's kind of like Emily is his gravity, the only thing holding him on the ground, and I think that's pretty accurate. When we see our imprint, we become whatever they need us to be—friend, confidant, whatever. So long as they're happy and safe." I ran out of steam then, unsure of what to say next.

Felicity's gaze was a mixture of emotions, but the most obvious was contemplative. Good. She wasn't immediately denying the entire idea. She was thinking it through. That was more than I could have hoped for. But then the silence stretched on for an entire minute and the awkwardness grew. I was about to beg her to say something when she finally spoke.

"So we're meant to be together." It wasn't a question.

I gave her an answer anyway. "In a way. We don't have to…be a couple. Not if you don't want to. We can be whatever we need to be."

She bit her lip. "What about what you want?"

I smiled. "This sounds stupid, but I want what you want. Or, to be more specific, I want you to be happy. So that means giving you what you want." I paused, beyond aware that my answer was lame. Not the way to convince Felicity of how I actually felt. "But honestly? Just me? I want…you."

She blinked. Her eyes traced my face, studying me so intently I was tempted to look away. But with her riveted expression at that moment, there was no way I could look anywhere else. "Thank you for being honest."

"Always," I promised.

Felicity smiled. "I think…we should continue as we are. Friends." For a second, my heart stopped. But then she continued, "And we can see where it goes."

"Where it goes," I said, an agreement though I wasn't quite sure where exactly she thought we were going.

"Yeah." She nodded resolutely. "Not too long ago we were strangers. Then we were friends. Now we're even closer friends. I think we could be more—I think we _will_ be more. But I want to get there naturally, you know? I don't want to jump into anything. I like the natural progression thing we've got going right now. Let's keep it up."

When she explained it that way, I was a fan of the idea. Hell, I loved the idea. A grin overtook my face. "Okay," I agreed more confidently this time. "Let's keep it up."

* * *

 **So there it is, y'all. Chapter 19. Next is chapter 20 which, as I said, is the final chapter. I'll post it soon (probably in about a week, as I've been doing). When I DO post it, I'll also be posting the first chapter of my next story, The Lucky One. As I've mentioned, it's a story featuring the Cullens and Bella so I'm sad to say some of you may not like it. I do plan on trying to work on two Twilight stories at the same time so I can also have a current wolves/imprint story (I am tentatively committing to a story called Anna Begins - but I may end up fleshing out another idea and working on that instead, so...we'll see). However, I probably won't be able to get that one up and running until after this semester ends in early May. So be patient and keep your eyes peeled if you want to read more from me, I guess? Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed THIS chapter! As always, I'd love it if you left me your thoughts! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello, friends! So. Here we are. The last chapter of Still Breathing. Thank you so much to everyone who has been unbelievably supportive of this story. For reading and reviewing and favoriting and following...y'all are the best. THANK YOU.**

 **Now I'm going to leave you to read (and hopefully enjoy!) the chapter, but heads up: there's going to be a monster of an A/N at the end of the chapter full of info, so I recommend giving that a look once you get there! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty**

 _Felicity_

Since things were sorted with Jacob, I figured it was time to stop being a wimp about the rest of his friends, too. I had my answers. Now I needed to accept them.

"Let's go," I said, standing up from the table.

Jacob followed behind me as I headed toward the door. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"To Sam's."

His hand caught my arm, gently stopping me before I could open the front door. "Maybe you want to change first? And put on some shoes?"

I looked down at myself, taking in my wrinkled clothes and bare feet. And now that he brought that to my attention, I figured my hair was probably a mess too. "Fair point. Give me a few minutes."

He smiled. "Sure, sure."

Twenty minutes later, we were well on our way to Sam's house and I was nervous enough to be fidgety. It made me wish Paul had come with us—he was good at distracting. Granted, he did so by acting like an asshole but it would have been appreciated for the first time ever right then. Instead, Paul had said he wanted to scope out some places we could move to. After the whole Cullen situation, he was aiming to find us an apartment closer to the rez. Just because we needed to stay in Forks didn't mean couldn't at least move closer to La Push.

So now I sat in the passenger's seat, my mind whirling with all the new information I'd learned today and wondering how the upcoming interaction would go—would I turn into a bundle of awkward now? I really hoped not—with no Paul to lighten things up.

Halfway there, Jacob reached over and took my hand, running his thumb over my palm. My nerves were still present, but the motion was soothing.

We pulled up in front of Sam and Emily's place, and though our hands remained entwined neither of us had said a word the entire drive over. Jacob probably knew there was nothing he could say to fix how I felt. His hand in mine was the only comfort right now.

He reclaimed my hand after we exited the car. We didn't knock, but instead just entered as if we had every right to do so. I suspected this was something the wolves did. There was a lot I didn't know about them—their specific dynamics and abilities, for instance—but I had a hunch that Sam and Emily's home was the epicenter location of the wolves. Because of this, I had _another_ hunch that Sam was their leader…or whatever the official term they used was.

Jacob led me to their kitchen, where Emily was flitting around baking, Sam was leaning against the counter near her, and a couple of other people were sitting at the table. But I didn't register who they were because my gaze was locked on Sam.

The moment I stepped on the room, his eyes found me and I swear I saw his body relax. What did he have to be worried about? Surely Jacob or Paul had informed him I'd gotten away from that doctor just fine.

Pushing away from the counter, Sam strode over and pulled me into his arms. I was so shocked that for a second I stood there with my arms hanging at my sides. Then it hit me that he was hugging me—and I wrapped my arms around him to return the embrace.

Sam's arms tightened around me slightly. "I know there's a lot you need to know, but _shit_ I'm glad you're okay, Felicity."

Oh. Well. That was sweet. "I am. I'm okay. We're all okay," I whispered back because I felt like he needed to hear it.

One more second of the hug and then Sam leaned back, smiling at me. "Sorry for getting weird. The pack is important to me; they're my family. And you're a part of that now."

I gave him a tiny smile in return. "Not weird at all."

"I told her we would have another bonfire soon to make up for the one she missed," Jacob said. "So we can fill in the gaps of what she doesn't know."

Sam nodded. "Yes, we will. Very soon." He went back to his place at the counter.

Emily peeked up from the batter she was mixing and smiled at me. "So great to see you here and in one piece, Felicity."

A weak laugh escaped my mouth. "Yeah. Thanks."

"I need to talk to you," one of the people at the table said, rising from their chair. Glancing over to see who it was, I couldn't help but gasp.

" _Kai?_ " I asked incredulously.

He smirked. "The one and only."

"Wow," was all I could say.

"Yeah," Kai agreed. "Can we step out to the porch or something? I need to talk to you." He shifted on his feet, apparently anxious about whatever was on his mind.

Jacob's hand landed on my shoulder. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea." His tone was full of warning.

Kai rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to be an ass or anything. There are just some things we need to get straight. We have a bit of a family history, Black. Some of which I'm pretty sure has gotten twisted. A chat is very much in order here, whether you like it or not." He paused. "Besides, it's up to _her_ to decide if she wants to talk to me or not. So?" he asked, arching a brow at me.

Studying Kai's expression, I tried to gauge how sincere he was. What did he even mean about the family history thing? I got the sense that I was missing something. "Okay," I said, easing out from Jacob's grasp. "Let's go out to the porch."

Jacob's eyes were intent on mine, but I gave him a little smile to let him know everything would be alright. I could handle a conversation with my stepbrother. If it was anything like our normal conversations, it wouldn't be exactly pleasant but I could handle it. Kai didn't seem to be in gear for one of our normal conversations, though—he seemed to have a lot on his mind that he actually wanted to get off his chest.

On the porch, I sat down on the front step and patted the spot beside me for him to join. He hesitated for a moment before sitting. "So?" I said. "What's up?"

Kai frowned. He was silent for so long I almost prompted him again, but then he blurted out, "It was my fault you got taken. By those—by the Cullens."

Not what I'd expected him to say. Not in the slightest. "What?"

He bit his lip. "I told one of them about the plans on the rez that night. How everyone would be tied up with the fire, and that you were working for a while before heading over. I mentioned that you'd be in Forks all by yourself with none of us over there to keep an eye on you. I'm the reason they knew when you were vulnerable—the reason they went into the store and took you."

My mouth opened, then closed. I didn't know what to say. He'd given the Cullens information that helped them take me. But… "That doesn't make it your fault," I said.

Apparently he hadn't been expecting that response. We were just full of surprises for each other today. "How so?"

I shrugged. "They were obviously pretty determined. They would have found a way to take me no matter what. Sure, you made it a little easier for them. But it's not like you handed me over to them without a care in the world. And it's not a secret that I work at the store, Kai. They could have just as easily stopped by without you giving them any help. It's not your fault."

He pursed his lips. "You're too forgiving."

I sighed. "It's not being too forgiving to refuse to give you a hard time for something that actually wasn't your fault."

Kai shook his head. "No, you've always been too nice to me. Even when I was a jerk to you. You've had every right to be a bitch to me for a while now, but you haven't been. Hell," he snorted but there was no humor in his tone, "it took you over a fucking year to stop trying to be my buddy. And even still, you have that look in your eyes…"

Okay, so the conversation was taking a turn. "I don't get what you're saying. Do you want me to be rude to you? I don't really want to, but if you insist…"

He cracked a smile. "No. That's not what I meant." He released a long breath. "Did you do a bunch of fucked up shit to me? Way back in the day?"

"Um…" How was I supposed to respond to such an odd question. "No? I don't even know what you mean."

"There was stuff that happened and I thought it was you. I'm thinking now that it wasn't, though."

My brows furrowed. "Like what?"

"Sending Christy Tolson a rude note signed with my name when you knew I liked her?"

Now my eyes widened. "I never did that. Did that actually happen?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Her best friend told me off for it. Apparently Christy had liked me, too."

I shook my head. "I don't know who did that, but it definitely was not me."

"So I'm assuming you didn't break my trust and spread around some of the secret shit I told you either?"

Taken aback, I shook my head again, blinking. "Of course not."

Kai sighed. "That's what I thought. Shit." He stared at the ground for a second before looking back up at me, his eyes full of apologies. "I thought you did that stuff, Felicity. That's why I started acting like such an ass. I thought you were fucking with me, so I started fucking with you too."

"Oh." I frowned.

"I'm pretty sure I know who actually did it now, but…I don't even want to go into it. It's so stupid. But I'm sorry, Felicity."

I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't really say it was okay, because it wasn't. Losing him as a friend had been terrible. And not having him on my side when I was with Elijah—and then when I lost Elijah…quite frankly, it had sucked. But holding grudges wasn't going to help anything either. So I gave him the best smile I could, which I had to admit but weak, and said, "Apology accepted. I forgive you."

Kai smiled back, a short laugh leaving his lips. "Of course. As I said, too forgiving."

I rolled my eyes, bumping my shoulder into his. "Whatever."

* * *

 _Jacob_

After Felicity and Kai's chat on Sam's porch, I saw a lot more of Kai. Mostly because he saw a lot more of Felicity. I couldn't blame him—Felicity was a great friend to have—but I still wasn't his biggest fan. So when he inserted himself into our conversation a few days later at the bonfire, I couldn't refrain from glaring at him.

Felicity noticed and laughed, nudging me with her elbow. "It's all good, Jacob."

"He's an asshole," I said, not caring that the guy was right next to us.

"Get over it," was all she said before returning to the original conversation.

Paul came over and derailed their conversation not too long after that. "I'm pretty sure I found the place we're gonna live," he said.

Felicity smiled. "Yeah?"

He grinned. "Hell yeah! It's great. Obviously you've got to give it a look, but I'm a fucking genius and I know you'll love it."

"A genius?" I asked, tone full of skepticism.

He scowled but his eyes were happy. "Fuck you, too."

Kai laughed. "I'm going to wait over by the food. I want to get more than one burger this time." He headed over to where Jared was already standing with Kim, apparently having the same idea. Honestly, it wasn't a terrible suggestion. Which was why Paul winked at Felicity and followed.

But I was glad to finally have my imprint to myself so I stayed put. "You know—" I started to say.

I was interrupted, however, by Elijah. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.

I wanted to groan. Would I ever get to have a conversation with my imprint at this damn get together?

Felicity didn't seem to notice by distaste this time. She handed me her drink and nodded. "I'll be right back, Jacob." Then she followed Elijah a little ways down the beach, still in sight but far enough away to give them a smidgen of privacy.

"How are you handling it?" Leah asked, making me flinch. I'd been so focused on Felicity that I hadn't even noticed Leah standing there.

I sighed, not particularly wishing to chat with Leah. "Handling what?"

She shrugged. " _Her_?"

My eyes narrowed, not caring for her tone or the implication behind it.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop. I mean the friends thing you've got going. And the she-got-taken-by-vamps thing. And the fact that she and her ex are still so clearly caught up in each other." Her voice turned grim toward the end and I noticed that she was watching Elijah and Felicity like a hawk.

"Just because he cares about someone else doesn't mean he doesn't love you most, Leah," I told her since that fact seemed to be something that was taking its damn time to sink into her skull.

"I know," she snapped. "It just sucks."

"Not really," I disagreed.

Her gaze cut to me, murder in her eyes. "You're not there with Felicity yet. Once you are, it'll get to you, too."

I shook my head. "No. It won't. Because I know that Felicity is mine. And I'm damn sure hers. I'm not going to fault her for not being her first love. Just like I'm sure Elijah's not faulting you for him not being yours." I raised my brows, challenging her to contradict me.

"Despite what you may think, you don't actually know everything, Jacob Black," she snapped.

"He's head over heels for you," I told her quietly. "Anyone can see that." And it was true. The way the guy looked at Leah was almost vomit-worthy. It was like he thought she could walk on water. "And it's actually a good thing he cares so much about Felicity."

Leah scoffed. "Oh really?"

"Really." I smiled. "It means he's not an asshole."

At that, Leah smiled. "Not a bad point."

Elijah and Felicity walked back over then, Felicity with a somewhat uncomfortable smile on her face. Elijah appeared pleased with himself, though. When they reached us, Elijah took Leah's hand. "Let's go see how Jared and Kim are doing," he said, leading Leah toward where the food would be placed soon. Yeah, he was the perfect imprint for Leah, whether she got over her insecurities and realized it or not.

"What was that about?" I asked my own imprint softly.

She sighed, leaning against my arm as if the conversation with her ex had exhausted her. I welcomed the contact, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her a little bit away from the group. Hopefully that small semblance of privacy would protect us from intruders for now. "Now that I'm in on the secrets, he wants to try to patch things up with us. So we can be friends."

Studying her uncertain expression, I said, "And you don't want that."

A frown turned down her lips. "That's not it. I just…I don't know. It's weird."

"Why?" I asked, tightening my hand on her shoulder in a hope to comfort her, at least a little.

"I don't know. I think it's one of those things that will take some time to sink in and get over. I've never been _just friends_ with Eli." She paused, then rushed on. "Not that I want to be more than friends now—no, not at all! I'm only…it's just…it's awkward, I guess."

I could understand that. "It's okay," I assured her. "There's no rush. If you need time, then take it. He can wait." He _would_ wait, whether he liked it or not, until she was ready. I'd make sure of it.

As if sensing my thoughts, Felicity grinned at me. "Hey, Jacob?"

"Yes, Felicity?" I smiled back at her.

"I kind of like you. A lot. Like, _a lot_."

My heart began to pound. "I kind of more than like you," I admitted. "More than a lot."

Her eyes sparkled gleefully. "I know this will probably sound weird, but I'm glad the imprinting thing between us happened."

I blinked, my smile falling as confusion took over. "You are?"

She giggled, the most beautiful sound. "Yes. It gave me you."

I tried to smile again because she seemed so happy. But I couldn't hold back my uncertainties. "Even though you had to go through that shit with the Cullens?" A small tremble tried to take over my hands at the thought of what they had done to her, but I pushed my anger back. Now was not the time.

Her gaze was intense now, focused on me. It felt like she saw right through me, down to my very soul. "Even with that. It wasn't exactly fun and I'd like to never do it again, but even so…I have you. I have _you_ ," she repeated. "We're both okay. I went through hell, but I'm still breathing. And I'm here—with you."

Her words cut through me in the best way. My throat was tight, but I forced out a response. "I more than like you, Felicity. _Way_ more than like you."

"Yeah?" she teased, going on her tip toes and leaning close to me, our chests nearly touching. "That's good. Because you're stuck with me." Then she closed the short distance between us, wrapping her arms around me and pressing her lips to mine.

* * *

 **And that's the end...of Jacob and Felicity's story. I hope you enjoyed it! If you feel so inclined, please leave a review letting me know your thoughts! Now, for NEW STORY information. Today I've started posting TWO (yes, TWO) new stories!**

 **1\. The Lucky One, which I've mentioned before. It's Bella/Edward, with Jasper and Bella friendship (because I think that'll be so fun to write).  
2\. Anna Begins, which is a companion/sequel to Still Breathing! After I posted Chapter 19 of SB, some people were like "why are you ending it so soon?" And I got to thinking about it. You know, y'all are kind of right. I mean, it was time for SB to end - I was here to write Jacob and Felicity imprinting and finding their way to something of a solid ending, and I got there. Plus, SB is my longest story to date at over 60,000 words. (I know that's not a lot compared to other people's stories, but that qualifies as a literal novel, y'all.) So ending it here with Chapter 20 is the way this story needs to be. HOWEVER. There are open threads. And there is a certain character I'd love to write a story for. Soooo...Anna Begins is Paul's imprint story. Hence the labeling of a companion/sequel: it takes place after SB, but instead of following Jacob and Felicity, AB will follow Paul and Anna. (Obviously Felicity and Jacob will be IN the story, just not the focus.)**

 **So yeah! Two stories. The first chapter of each are posted now (though they may take a little while to appear on my profile). If you're interested, head on over and check them out! And again, thank y'all so much for giving my writing the time of day. I appreciate it more than I can say! :)**


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